Travel Tips

After a couple of stops, the train rose above the confines of the tunnel and we watched as strange, dark neighborhoods whizzed past us. It was kind of late to see the Eiffle tower but we went anyway. They call Paris the city of lights but many places suffer from meager illumination. The station was empty and we walked briskly. It was very cold and we were tired from the day's sightseeing but we pushed on.

The Eiffel Tower rose forever. It stood as tall as the sky set against a full moon. We wondered what high tourist season was like and then smiled when we saw that there was no one on line. She was all ours.

Before we could reach the ticket booth, seemingly out of the darkness, came three Nigerians who dangled souvenirs of all types in front of our faces. We shook our heads and continued walking managing only to discourage two of them. The third one followed us and kept saying, "Two Euro, Two Euro" as he pointed to tiny Eiffel Tower key chains The more No's I said the lower his bargaining price became. Finally I stopped and I bought four key chains for two Euros which was a good deal. Inside the tower the same key chain cost six so I felt good about it.

We bought our tickets, took one last look up and headed inside. The elevator that climbs diagonally up the foot of the tower to the first level is the original elevator Eiffel constructed for ascension. The machinery that runs it is all original. We were the only ones there so the elevator operator waited about 10-15 minutes for the car to get full before we began our ascent.

We were impressed with the quarter scale version of the Eiffel tower in the Paris Casino in Las Vegas. The real thing took our breath away! Since it was already almost ten and we had about an hour until he tower closed, we didn't really look around on the first floor.
We just followed the line to the other elevator bank. It took a few minutes, but soon enough we were soaring upwards. I made sure to stand by the window. I didn't want to miss a thing. The second floor was a little smaller than the first and we did take the time to look around. In my opinion this section offers a better view unless you're into taking pictures from airplane windows. A few minutes later we were on another line waiting for the final elevator. Space was much more limited and it was a tight squeeze and a huge group of Germans tourists were making jokes about falling.

At the top there are two sections. One is enclosed by glass and the other is at the very top (outdoors) right beneath the spotlights. Eiffle's office used to be at the very top and he supposedly used to take the stairs from the second floor all the way up. The man must have been in really good shape. The stairs have since been dismantled and only an eight foot section remains on display on the second floor. The rest of the steps were auctioned off. Looking out from the top of
the Eiffel Tower was wondrous. I imagine that during the day you can see very far. At night the view was similar to any major city as seen from a plane and on clear days the rotating beacon is visible up to 80 km away.

The moon was full and we lingered at the top gazing into the distance almost until closing. It was romantic and special and I'm glad they didn't tear it down after the World's Fair. What would Paris be without the Eiffel Tower? What would a trip to Paris be without a passionate kiss on top of the Eiffel Tower? We came down on the last elevator.