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- First sighting of the Eiffel Tower. Photo credit: L. Tripoli
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- The inner workings of the Eiffel Tower. Photo credit: L. Tripoli
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- The view of the Eiffel Tower from below. Photo credit: L. Tripoli
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- The Eiffel Tower in the daytime. Photo credit: V. Laino
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- The Eiffel Tower as seen from La Grande Roue de Paris. Photo credit: L. Tripoli
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- The Eiffel Tower viewed from Notre Dame Cathedral. Photo credit: V. Laino
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- Daytime Eiffel. Photo credit: V. Laino
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- Eiffel at dusk. Photo credit: V. Laino
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- Sparkling Eiffel. Photo credit: L. Tripoli
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- Golden Eiffel. Photo credit: V. Laino
Figuring that the Eiffel Tower will be a ho-hum stop on our tour of France, I buy tickets to go see it on the first night we will be in Paris. I’ve seen the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, site of the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens. I’ve seen the Statue of Liberty. Neither really do it for me, so I am not expecting much from the Parisian offering. I figure I’ll appease the Youthful Adventurer, always keen on anything he might possibly climb, and the Senior Adventurer, who is the type of traveler who heads up the mountain the minute the ski lift starts running, no matter how jetlagged she might be. Dragging a bit myself after a long night on a plane, I’ll just check this one attraction off my list and get on with the rest of my vacation.
Then we fall in love with it, from our first sighting in the evening as we round a curve on the walk from our hotel, to our ride up to the platform, to seeing it from different vantage points as we visit other destinations in the city. We keep going back, night after night. I want to spend a week just bonding with the Eiffel Tower.
If you are headed to Paris soon, plan better than I do. Build in regular visits to the tower, then work in a few more. It won’t disappoint.
Bit of trivia: On May 15, 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened to visitors.
—Lori Tripoli