I don't think anyone would argue that if you go to Paris, the Eiffel Tower deserves its own post. It has to be one of the iconic man-made landmarks in the world. It's image is found worldwide on t-shirts, mugs, souvenirs, etc. Movies filmed in Paris (or supposed to be set in Paris) will always include the tower in the background if not as a place where some chase or romantic scene takes place.
And now we were going there!
In preparation, I had read a book about the building of the Eiffel Tower--like all big achievements, it had a crazy history. Grand ideas and new things don't come without lots of obstacles and trying of new things. Eiffel was a bridge builder by profession and his company worked with iron and
steel and other metals. He was seeking to do something modern and different for the World's fair in 1889. Most people at the time hated the building as it was going up and the original proposal was for the building to be taken down in 1919. The iron rod structure pieces were made offsite and then brought to the location and welded together. Just building the foundation to support what would become the highest structure in the world at the time was a tremendous challenge. The elevators that take guests up inside the Eiffel Tower had to be "invented" to work in the curved structure of the tower. It wasn't completed in time for the opening of the Fair, but soon became one of the many attractions of the Fair. By 1919, the Eiffel Tower had already become such a tourist destination that the decision was made to keep it. There is so much interesting history surrounding this building. If you are interested, google it or find a book to read about the history.
Despite all of my reading, one of my first thoughts was "Isn't not black?" I knew that it wasn't from the reading I had done--the choice of color was very important to Mr. Eiffel, but still so often I had seen it as black on shirts, etc., I guess my mind held that thought.
We met at a nearby travel agent who we thought might be giving us a tour. Actually, all he did was take the group to the right place for our "skip the line" passes. Having the wheelchairs also meant that we had access to a special line into the elevator lobby which skipped some of the "skip the line" line as well. The tower has three levels where people can get off. The second level which is mid-way up is the common spot for most people to go when they visit the Tower. The third level requires walking up many steps and houses the office and private rooms that Eiffel had built for himself. Many scientific experiments especially regarding weather were done there. The top was over 1000' high and it allowed Eiffel and others to track weather in new ways never done before.
Our tour was at 6:30 and we remained until the lights began to turn on over the city and on the Tower. It was amazing! I took lots of photos and it was hard to narrow them down. You can skip to the next post once you get tired of the Eiffel Tower--
Charon was pushing Mom Hall's wheelchair as we left the travel agent's office and followed him down the street. Pushing the wheelchair was a bit of a challenge on some of the bumpy sidewalks and streets in Paris. She was trying to avoid big bumps when Gary (always the big brother) asked her how much further to the Tower. She started to reply that she didn't know, but as she looked up, there it was right in front of them.
That is how it is. You can see the Eiffel Tower for miles, but when you are walking the streets near the tower, it hides behind buildings and seems to then "jump up" and surprise you.
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| Information about the tower |
I really don't know what to say other than this is what the Eiffel Tower looks like--up close and personal!
Going through security---it took a minute or two to figure out all of the items which are forbidden in the Tower.
At the base of the Tower are some gardens and ponds.
As you know, I like how light and dark can contrast in a photo. This was as we were heading to the elevator line.
Looking up---from the ground.
In the book that I read, it talked about the work of the men building the Tower. Each of these joints required two men--the placer and the striker. The placer put the bolt (later the rivet) into the hole and a striker pounded it in. The internet states that over 18, 038 pieces were joined together in this way using over 2.5 million rivets. If the pieces did not fit together properly, they were sent back to the factory and redone.
Despite the tremendous heights, only one person died during the building of the Tower.
More views of the beams which make up the Tower
This is up from the second level (which itself has two levels which you can walk between using a small flight of stairs.) There are restaurants there, souvenirs shop, and a small deli.
And then there is the view--we who have flown in airplanes and been in other tall buildings--probably don't appreciate the wonder for people in 1889 who haven't done that before. To see the world from that vantage point was quite a miracle for them.
This is the view of the modern business district of Paris in the skyline with the river Seine at the bottom of the photo. This is to the west of the Tower--
The river Seine with its bridges!
To the south near the Tower is a school and housing. Again the variety of the roof-tops are striking.
Paint has begun to crack on some of the surfaces. They have to repaint it about every 7 years to keep it in good repair. This color is called Eiffel Tower brown. The Tower is actually painted in three shades of this color--lightest on the top and then getting darker near to the ground.
A look to the north of the Sacre-Coeur where we had been just earlier this afternoon.
This is the overlook toward the east direction, somewhat in the direction of our hotel. If you look carefully you can see the bridges over the river Seine. Seriously, the whites and browns of the city were lovely and either of these photos could be a jigsaw puzzle.
It was windy on the second level, but we needed at least one selfie of Paris from the Eiffel Tower--a perfect place to share a kiss and a hug with my best friend and partner. It was a sweet moment to just "be" on the Eiffel Tower.
The sun is starting to set...........
We were a level up and caught Mom and Charon and then Gary and Vonette enjoying the view.
An Eiffel Tower sucker--
Hanging out on the 2nd level.
Everyone wanted to watch the sunset to the west from the Eiffel Tower--
Almost down......
The elevator which we were happy to travel up and down in. And it was nice to get warm...
The changing night sky....
The lights begin to turn on the Tower as we are down on the ground-
We ate dinner at a restaurant in the area and then headed back to our hotel. This is the night view from the Mom Hall's room of the tower.
The history of the Tower, especially during the WW I and II, is very interesting. When you are bored, look it up.
But for us, it was the end of a long day in Paris--what a city to see!
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