Bananas, tentacles, totems: Today, dildos and vibrators come in all kinds of imaginative shapes and sizes. Yet, ever since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, one design has been towering over the competition: A 22-centimeter-high replica of the Eiffel Tower, made from hypoallergenic, waterproof premium silicone with a velvety touch. Its vibrator version even features 10 levels of intensity. "Nearly 20,000 units of 'La Tour est Folle' ['The Eiffel Tower is crazy'] were sold to individuals last year, instead of the usual 3,000 or 4,000. If we add in professional transactions, we're talking about 50,000 models sold in 2024," said Richard Fhal, CEO of Concorde Love, France's leader in adult products, lingerie and cosmetics.

Just stroll along Boulevard de Clichy, in northern Paris' Pigalle neighborhood, and you'll see dozens of La Tour est Folle vibrators in the windows of sex shops and love stores. At the Clara Morgane Store, a few samples sit atop shelves laden with harnesses and crotchless panties; while at the Porno Shop, one stands proudly, upright on its four legs, beside a wind-up bouncing testicle. "This tower makes for a fun souvenir for tourists. It's a change from keychains – and it's still very effective," said a shop assistant, who disclosed that it was common practice to insert it as far as up to the Tower's second level – which, for lovers of the finer things in life, represents the height at with the Le Jules Verne restaurant is perched. "I tower over it, lock onto my target, and, aiming as precisely as possible, discover the true essence of the object. I feel completely and utterly all-powerful," said a Canadian blogger. "Unlike my other silicone companions, this one doesn't come with a sickening smell."

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