Lindbergh and the Eiffel Tower: a light seen from the Atlantic
On 21 May 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget after crossing the Atlantic. He later wrote that he had spotted the flashes of Jacopozzi's illuminated Eiffel Tower from the ocean — his first visual landmark on French soil.
21 May 1927, 10:22 pm. The Spirit of St. Louis touches down at Le Bourget after 33 hours and 30 minutes of solo flight across the Atlantic. Charles Lindbergh has just completed the first non-stop transatlantic crossing.
What he saw
In his memoirs, Lindbergh describes the moment he knew he was approaching France:
Suddenly, in the absolute darkness of the ocean, I saw a light. Then another. Then an artificial constellation that could only be Paris.
That artificial constellation — the Eiffel Tower of Fernand Jacopozzi, lit since July 1925. Its projectors and 250,000 bulbs were visible, on a clear night, from 40 kilometres away.
From the ocean, on a clear night, Lindbergh saw Paris before he could even see the French coastline.
An unwitting testimony
Jacopozzi never knew his work had served as a lighthouse for Lindbergh. The aviator does not mention his name. But the anecdote — recounted decades later by Donatella — is one of the most eloquent proofs of the true reach of the Citroën illumination.
The world’s largest advertising sign was also, by accident, the largest lighthouse in France.