Up the Eiffel Tower

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Doesn't everyone visit ...........

Is there anyone who has visited Paris as a tourist and not visited the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe?

I cannot imagine the reaction we would have gotten at some time in the future if we answered that question with, "No, we didn't." Well, perhaps I can imagine the reaction and it probably would not have been printable in a public travelblog. So to reassure you, "Yes we visited both and then took a long walk down the Champs de Elysee".

Thank Goodness for Subways

Subway systems have helped us greatly in various cities during our travels and Paris has a great subway and bus system. This day it was the subway that made our day possible. Once we had plotted the route by subway from our hotel to the stop nearest the Eiffel Tower the trip was easy, a short walk to the right subway train and then another to the tower itself.

The Tower

The Tower is big, no question about that. Both of us were impressed, but not surprised. We have seen the Tower in photographs, on television and in movies and knew this was not going to be a small structure. Still when you are standing at the base of the tower it takes a brave soul to agree to riding all the way up to the top! It's massive! Interestingly there is an Eiffel Tower in Prague, also designed by Eiffel, one-third the size of that in Paris. What surprised me was how small the Prague Eiffel Tower looked when we returned to Prague. We were fortunate on several counts. 1) The sun was shining, no rain and none in the forecast. 2) While there were lots of visitors to the Tower it certainly was not a day with long, long lines. The line to the ticket booths where you could buy tickets was short. 3) As it was a nice day of mixed sunshine and clouds and the line was moving smoothly everyone seemed in a good mood. Even the children were happy. It was not late enough in the day for them, even the tiny ones, to be worn out and unhappy.

The Elevator

The elevators which move people up the tower are quite large so the waits are not overly long once you have your ticket and get in line. This is a guess, but it looked like at least fifty people could be on an elevator at one time. The elevator begins on an upward diagonal and gradually changes to vertical. The end of the first elevator ride is not all the way to the top. You can stop at the end of this ride and get quite nice views of the city. Then, unless you have lost your nerve, it is time to head to the top! There is another elevator to the topmost level. The view from the top is definitely worth the price and time. A small food stall is also on the level where everyone must exit the elevator. More importantly there are rest rooms.

Also on this level, near the inside of the walkway there is a small room that Eiffel used as an office and to entertain guests. On display are wax figures, in period dress, of Eiffel, his daughter and Thomas Edison. The scene is a reproduction of the visit of Thomas Edison to the tower. He is giving the designer Eiffel a gift of a gramaphone.

The Top!

I do not remember how many times we walked around the first platform and how many rounds we made on the top-most level. Knowing this was probably our first, last and only visit to the Eiffel Tower we were reluctant to leave. Outstanding views greeted us in all directions. We were able to pick out the train station that was right beside our hotel and beyond that the Louvre. Right next to our hotel is another extremely tall tower which has now become a prominent part of the Paris skyline. Also by looking down on the layout of the Paris streets spread before us, we were able to determine the route we would need to walk to the Arc de Triomphe. The walk from the tower to the Arc was not long and we throughly enjoyed the streets as we walked along. Many streets were named for famous people and there was little traffic and few people in that part of town.



What a wonderful exciting day. We spent several hours enjoying the sights and seeing so many others having a good time on a nice day. We'll share more photos of our walk though Paris in another blog when we have time to sit still for a while.

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