On June 4 a 37-year-old woman from San Francisco - Erika La Tour Eiffel, nŽe Erika La Tour - married the Eiffel Tower, in a ceremony attended by 12 friends. Of course, in many ways this is quite a melancholy fact. La Tour Eiffel had an unhappy childhood, cannot form trusting romantic relationships with other human beings and feels safe in investing love only in things that cannot possibly hurt her. Unless, obviously, there is some deep structural damage, exacerbated by a minor earth tremor - in which case a piece of the Eiffel Tower could shear off, and hurt the new Mrs La Tour Eiffel quite a bit.

La Tour Eiffel's unresolved emotional state is reflected in the buildings she falls in love with. Before she was with the Eiffel Tower, she was in love with the Berlin Wall - scarcely the warm, supportive, stable structure of one's dreams. Second-time around, and one wouldn't want to bet the house on her current relationship lasting either. Despite its venerability, the Eiffel Tower is still out on the town, seven nights a week, like a big, iron Peter Stringfellow. It has women crawling all over it. It's hard to see how the new Mrs La Tour Eiffel will get the commitment she craves. Her fatal weakness seems to be for high-profile, trophy buildings, the architectural equivalent of rock stars. I can't help but feel that, as she matures, she will find she has nothing in common with these global icons. My warm hope is that she will eventually give up on these high (in the case of the Eiffel Tower 968ft, or 300m)-profile buildings, and find a more low-key, sustainable happiness with a nearby municipal building - a library, maybe. I hope that they get to settle down, experience true love and maybe raise a couple of small outhouses together.

(London Times columnist Caitlin Moran)