The last major place in Paris we visited, on the last day of our trip, was the Eiffel Tower. When it first debuted in 1889 for the World's Fair, it was very different than anything that had been built in Paris to date, and Parisens felt it was an eyesore. It did not receive the kind of respect it does today as an iconic figure in Paris. Of course, from the other posts I've made about this amazing city, Paris is more than the Eiffel Tower. But some in this world consider this the center of Paris life. It is not.
However, it does seem to serve as the center of tourism for Paris. Of all the places we visited in Paris, including Versailles, the Eiffel Tower was indeed the busiest. It attracts the standard fair of gypsies, vendors of Eiffel Tower trinkets, and street performers. On our second day in Paris, we visited the monument from a vantage point closest to my brother's apartment. The venue was between two museums, one of which was the history of the French navy. The second visit occurred on our last day in Paris which was opposite the the first viewing. Throughout the variety of visits into Paris, the Eiffel Tower was a constant reminder; you could see it from nearly everywhere in the city, which is probably why the initial feelings were that of an eyesore instead of the engineering marvel it really is.
As we approached the tower, it became increasingly clear that this structure was no simple monument. In fact, it is probably one of the most complex structures I've ever seen. The intricacies of how this tower is constructed is mind boggling. According to the historical pictures of its construction, the tower was actually built by starting with 4 feet that were erected and eventually curved to meet to form the base of the first observation deck. The tower has 3 observation decks, the lower two of which are accessible by stairs.
When we reached the area under the tower I was struck at it's size and equally a bit nauseous at its height. That's when my sister-in-law asked if we wanted to walk up to the observation decks; her treat. Considering how much walking we had done, and climbing throughout various venues in France, I thought it was a great idea. The lines to the stairs were relatively short by comparison to the lines for the elevators, so climbing could be accommodated. Interestingly, while we were standing in line, two French Army soldiers showed up to ensure safety with the growing crowds, and one of them was armed to the teeth with weapons of all types. It made me a bit nervous and comfortable.
After securing the tickets we began our climb. Now I'll be the first to admit that I am afraid of heights. So walking up the stairs in the open was less than exciting for me. The climbing was not too difficult, there are 1665 stairs in this tower, but the openness seriously freaked me out. When we reached the first observation deck, I realized I was dizzy. Not from the climb but from the height; I was scared for the first time in my life, really scared. I know that the tower has been in good condition for over 121 years, and well constructed. I was simply dizzy from the height and was too scared to go to the edge of the observation deck. In particular was the open hole in the center of the observation deck. The hole was huge, stretching to all four legs of the tower, and extremely well protected, but for the life of me I could not get closer than 10 feet from the enclosed railing. I did manage to make it to the outside deck and take a plethora of pictures around the deck.
From those pictures, and the variety of written information guides, I learned lots about the city of Paris and the tower. The Eiffel was an engineer and a scientist. The tower he built had a weather station at the top of the tower that measured pressure, wind speed, and temperature. From the information gathered over the years of its existence, the tower will sway as much as 10 centimeters or 4 inches at maximum which makes it one of the most rigid structures in the world. When the sun shines on it, the metal expands and that side with the direct sunlight expands enough to warp the tower by as much as 10 centimeters at the top. At the base of the tower, during the early 1900's, wind tunnels were installed on the tower to do aeronautical studies for some of France's early aeronautical engineers. So the tower was not only a place of magnificence, but it was also used for experimentation. In fact the names of 72 different scientists that performed experiments on or at the tower are etched into the tower above the first observation deck; a marvel of ingenuity.
Sarah and Jeannine braved the second ascent to the the middle observation deck. I was far too scared to walk any higher. Fortunately though the stairs themselves were standard stairs and not the original spiral stair cases, like the ones we encountered at the Arc D'Triomphe. Getting down was also an adventure, for what goes up in this tower must also come down. Before heading down though, I looked around at the variety of venues on the first observation deck. The deck itself is so huge that there are 3 restaurants; an open air cafe and two inside places to grab a bite to eat. The food smelled delicious, but I was so nauseated that the last thing I could do was drink or eat; or I'd have blessed someone below the tower with backwash.
As expected, our decent was far easier than the ascent. We did however go down a different set of steps than when we ascended the tower. So we were able to get two different perspectives of the scenery. What was interesting about the scenery, as you can see in the photos of this post is that unlike other Paris photos, you do not see the Eiffel Tower in the photos. So, the pictures are a bit more unique than the others we took while in Paris.
All in all though, we visited many of the high points of tourist spots in Paris. We also visited several cultural centers of the city, including shopping stores and outdoor performances. This city has a serious charm that all should attempt to see once in their lifetime. But make sure you plan to stay at least 2 weeks; there is so much to see and do, it really takes some planning to experience Paris.
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