Fancy a flight? Eiffel Tower staircase up for sale

PARIS: A rare chance to own part of France's best-loved monument comes up Monday, when a piece of the original staircase of the Eiffel Tower will be put under auction.

The 20-step spiral section was part of the flight leading from the second to the third levels of the tower. It was scaled by Gustav Eiffel himself at the inauguration in 1889, when the lift was not yet in service.

One of 24 sections of the staircase removed in 1983 during renovation work, it has been in private hands ever since.

The sale at the Drouot auction house on Monday afternoon is expected to make up to 30,000 euros (44,000 dollars).

Buyers are warned that the ironwork is 4.5 m high and weighs 700 kg.