Tour Eiffel

Estava de passagem para ‘Vaujanie, Les Alpes’ para aprender a esquiar.. desci no aeroporto de orly em Paris mais ou menos na hora do almoço, passei no macdonalds e fui visitar a maravilhosa torre.. foi maravilhoso, umas das melhores experiências da minha vida, o mais legal é que naquele ano não nevava fazia tempo na cidade e quando caminhava em direção a torre lá estava a neve chegando como massos de algodão, só que gelada como o gelo claro lol

Grous Bisous para quem leu este depo.

Be prepared for a bit of a queue (at least 30 minutes each time I’ve been), but it’s worth it for the view! One day I’d like to be adventurous and actually walk up the stairs – but for now I’m happy to take the lift along with almost everyone else :)

Ok I went there when I was 15 yrs old with my friends. It was really amazing to be there and to be able to go inside and go up!!! hahaha and at the top part everybody can write their names =) so u feel u r leaving a bit of u in PARIIIIS but I wonder….how many times per year they paint everything again so all the names fit in????

u just don’t have to be afraig of the heights;) ist was beautifull!!! we waited about 3 hours in line BUT it was totally worth it!!!

When I was 15 I travelled with group of students from school to go to London and Paris. About two years before I had told my parents that I wanted to go to the eiffel tower and walk up the stairs. When I finally got the the Eiffel tower two years later I was told that the stairs were closed. I will return some day and walk up those stairs. That day I took the elevator and when sitting on a bench already heavily carved I put my name on that bench. It is more then likely gone now but I will be back I will do this.

That way you get to skip the worst of the queues, which can be really bad. One thing I kept meaning to do was come here at night to photograph the tower when it was lit up, but I just never got around to it. I personally love the light show every hour – when I go back to live in Paris I’d love to live somewhere with a view of the tower.

The queues for this attraction can get HUGE, we walked past there before it opened one morning and there were scores of people already waiting.
This was the big thing that I wanted to do on our trip, so we went up on the first night we arrived. It was about 6pm and we had to wait about half an hour but it was totally worth it. It was already dark by the time we started to go up, and there were christmas lights all over the city. Once you get out onto the platform it is just breathtaking.
We only went up to the first level but you still get a fantastic view, and there is a restaurant, cinema, some art displays, and of course a gift shop!
We weren’t brave enough to walk up the steps (it was windy!) but the lift is nice and it is cool to see the city falling away below you as you get further towards the top.
We also had a wander through the park one morning, it is small but pretty, and there is a little pond with ducks and other birds there.

I don’t know why Paris is called the City of Lights, but the Eiffel Tower twinkling every hour in the evening for 10 minutes is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

I have always loved France and all things French. I don’t know why, but perhaps it was a past life. My first visit here was with my new husband for our honeymoon, and I saved the Eiffel Tower for my 23rd birthday during our trip.

Granted, the tower is wonderful to see. It has beautiful lines and has a special place in my heart – but I was surprised that it was, well, fat. I don’t know how else to put it, but the tower is not “slender” and “thin” like as seen in photos. It’s probably some optical illusion because my pictures of it came out fine, looking like the ol’ tower I recognized. But, in person? Wow – chubby Eiffel, non?

Anyway! My tip: don’t let the “Bosnian” girls with their multilanguage signs ruin your day. They will walk up to you and everyone, several times, asking if you speak English and if you have food or money to give them.

One girl, right when we got there, kept asking us for food that we had in a small plastic bag. My husband stopped, which I think was his fault, and kept telling her no. SHE REACHED HER HAND into our plastic bag, saying “just one, just one” and grabbed the whole mess of cherries we had bought from Mireille’s little shop.

I couldn’t believe it. I was completely stunned.

After that, I was pretty upset, since those were for my birthday picnic, it was my first time here, etc. (Plus, those cherries weren’t cheap. At all.) I’m usually the person that wants to give money or food, but after that little stunt, I couldn’t stand any of those girls. Any time they came up to us, my husband would ask for euro, and we would tell them in French that their friend stole from us today and to get our food back.

They learned to leave us alone after a while…

Since I didn’t want that beginning to our visit to ruin the rest of the day, I got over it. At least, I didn’t let it bother me to where I didn’t enjoy the tower.

The line is long for the elevators, so buy tickets in advance if you can. Pickpockets abound in Paris, so I had a purse that zipped shut and no pockets. My husband carried his wallet in his front pocket and any extra cash in a flat carrying thing that latches to his belt loop and sits inside his pants. I know, somewhat gross, but the money didn’t touch him, just the pouch. We never got pickpocketed and never saw anything like that, but everyone will tell you to watch out.

I’ll go upstairs until half of the way. Wonderful views of Paris! I’ll never forget it.

make sure you try to get tickets to the top in advance, or you’ll be waiting in line forever! also, make sure to keep all yoru money in your front opckets – pickpockets abound!!!