The Eiffel Tower which was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, by engineer Gustav Eiffel, was originally only supposed to stay up for 20 years. But its use as an antennae saved it and today it is the most recognizable symbol of Paris. Before the Empire State Building was built in 1931 it was the tallest building in the world at 320 meters or over one thousand feet high.

As a tourist you can't go to Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower. That's because you can see it from all over the city. You even see it when you are flying over Paris taking off or landing. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is another thing. I did not visit it until the last morning of my third visit to Paris. Our late afternoon flight gave us an entire morning to do as we wished and except for having to race back to the hotel to be out of the room by noon, there was plenty of time to take a cab and take the elevator to the top. But when I got to the famous landmark there was a half hour line for the elevators and I was resigned to wandering around taking photos from the bottom.

Then I saw one entrance where they were collecting tickets and there was no line. What could this be? They were the stairs. I decided to climb the Eiffel Tower on foot. At least the 367 steps to the first level. I knew that when I got back to Carrboro, North Carolina it would be Saturday night and in my favorite bar some friend who had not even noticed I had been missing would ask me what I had done today. "Nothing much. Just climbed the Eiffel Tower". He would think I was joking and go on to the next subject but I would be persistent. "No, really. I climbed the Eiffel Tower this morning and I TOOK THE STAIRS". People around us would stop their conversations and listen in. Women with free-spirited Democratic leanings who had spent the last 3 weeks mourning the 2004 elections would suddenly look at their Republican lawyer husbands with distaste and wonder about the international adventurer in their midst who had climbed the Eiffel Tower that morning, on foot no less.

But before I could bask in the glory I had to climb the thing which was not an easy task. I began counting the steps, just as a way to make the time pass, but after awhile it just made me more tired and I started counting the landings instead. Even that required too much extra effort. I could see I was making great progress by looking at the buildings around me but whenever I looked up at the first platform which was my destination, it seemed like I still had a long way to go and I might not make it. I started feeling my age. My fifty-year old heart was straining and my lungs hurt with every breath, still I pushed on. I passed people going down and they looked at me with a sort of pity, having been in my situation a half-hour before (about the time I estimated it would take me to recuperate).

At last I made it to the first observation platform. Not the second or the third but at least for this trip as far as I was going to go. I wandered around and took photos from every angle and direction before walking down the stairs which of course was much easier though still tiring in a different way. The first level has a cafe, a museum with films of famous visitors and other interesting things to read and see. But probably you will be so impressed by the view that you will have to force yourself to look at anything else. If you go to the second level I recommend the elevator unless you are an athlete in training. The Jules Verne restaurant has good food and a nearly unbeatable view. In fact the only better one is all the way at the top where Gustav Eiffel used to have his sitting room. 

I did go to my local bar at home and I did say in a loud voice that I had climbed the Eiffel Tower that morning. But nobody was impressed. The only response was from a woman nearby who pronounced that she too loved Paris and then started to let us know how much she knew the city until in the end we had to change the subject to basketball just so she would leave us alone. So I did not get a reward or the respect I thought that climbing the Eiffel tower would earn me. But I did get these really terrific pictures. Oh yeah. I was sore for days, but it was something to remember Paris by.

Eiffel Tower Photos

Click on the first photo to enlarge and then click your way through. The above photos are clickable too.

Hotels near the Eiffel Tower

Recommended hotels within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower include the 2-star Eiffel Rive Gauche Hotel, situated on a lovely quiet street, between the Tour Eiffel, Invalides and Champs-Elysees. The 2-star Hotel Saint Dominique is an 18th century former convent and the 2-star Hotel Tour Eiffel is located on a quiet street right near the monument. You can't get much closer to the Eiffel Tower than the 3-star La Bourdonnais Hotel or the 4-star Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel Hotel.