The Eiffel Tower Goes Dark

The Eiffel Tower in Paris went off. The lights of the symbol of France were switched off on Thursday evening, in memory of Jacques Chirac. The President (1995-2007) passed away at the age of 86. Monday was declared a day of national mourning in France.

The Élysée Palace will be open until Sunday so that the people can express their condolences.

"To pay tribute to (former) President Jacques Chirac, we will turn the Eiffel Tower's lights off this Thursday evening from 21:00 local time (1900 GMT)," Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris tweeted.

President Macron also paid tribute to Chirac saying that he  "embodied a certain idea of France".

"We French have lost a statesman whom we loved as much as he loved us," Mr Macron said. "Whether we share, or not, his ideas or what he fought for, we all recognise ourselves in this man who resembled us, and brought us together.", Macron stated.

We recall that Jacques Chirac served two terms as French president and took his country into the single European currency. One of his major political reforms was to cut the presidential term of office from seven to five years. He was seen as the focus of opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.