Birmingham’s French Wheel is no Triomphe

BIRMINGHAM, England, Dec 3 (AFP) – What better way to take in the skyline of England’s second city, than with a commentary about the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe – in French?

The Birmingham Wheel, a 60-meter (180-foot), 42-gondola ferris wheel, is up and running, just in time for Christmas.

But thanks to technical problems, it’s still playing the taped commentary that it had in its previous incarnation – as a millennium attraction on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

“We were planning to remove the French commentary and replace it with facts and figures about the wheel of Birmingham and the city in English,” said a spokesman for World Tourist Attractions, which runs the wheel.

“Unfortunately, there have been complex technical difficulties that have meant that we cannot now do this within the time that the wheel is in Birmingham,” he told the Birmingham Post newspaper.

“We will, however, remove the French commentary as soon as possible to prevent confusion.”

More than 24,000 people have boarded the Birmingham Wheel since it opened in November, offering commanding views of the city, including its huge

Bullring shopping mall and the Black Country beyond.It will stay in Birmingham until the end of January, then will be taken down and transfered to a yet-to-be-disclosed location.

© AFP

                                                                Subject: French news