Visiting World Wonders: The Eiffel Tower

Let’s talk about my experience with the Eiffel Tower today.

Hi! This is an introduction to help you understand the context of this post and why I suddenly have so much to say about the Eiffel tower. So, recently, I was really missing my vacation from last summer and decided to look through the pictures from it, to just reminisce and feel properly nostalgic. Somewhere during doing that I realised how extremely fortunate I am to have seen so many world wonders in my extremely short life. I also realised that these are memories I want to preserve forever and share with the world and thus, I throw at you this little blog post series where I talk about my experiences with world wonders, iconic sites and probably the best moments of my life. That’s all, here on out its all about la Tour Eiffel, as the French call it.

The very first time I saw the Eiffel Tower, technically, was from 12000 ft. high as our aeroplane began its descent into the Charles De Gaulle airport, Paris on 2nd June 2017. It was a tiny smidge, a minuscule A almost, shining to my hunting eyes through the fog and mist. It was almost fairytale, that little moment, the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower.

For your reference: Drop the straight line down the end of the wing and you should be able to spy the mini Eiffel Tower, as I saw it.

My next tryst with it was the very same evening when we, fresh and awake drove out of the hotel to the city and I realised why the Eiffel Tower is synonymous with Paris. It conquers the Parisian skyline and is visible from LITERALLY everywhere. No hyperbole here. (I later learnt that this is because there are no high rise constructions allowed in the city. Just some facts for the cynical.)

We were headed to our cruise down the river Seine and thus, here comes the whopper. I saw the Eiffel Tower from the sky, the road and the water all in one day. Makes you think of point of views, huh? The boat view though wins by far. I had the most majestic views of the Eiffel tower on our cruise and somewhere on the river Seine around the Statue of Liberty(Yes, like the one in New York but in Paris and smaller.)and gazing at the Eiffel tower it hit me. I was actually in Paris. The French capital. Abode to Aphrodite. The crowning jewel of romance, beauty and love.The one I read about in books and watched in movies. It was a very memorable feeling, one of a dream coming true. I like going back to that moment and just feeling little slivers of that feeling till. It was and remains, extremely precious.

I really like this picture I took while on the cruise. I feel like it captures the perfect blend of modernity and antiquity that Paris is.

The second day we got real up close and personal, me and the Eiffel. We were going to go up the Eiffel tower to see Paris from the point where its glory shone the brightest. The tower has two levels, one kinda midway and the second at the very top. I’m happy to report we went to both. It was a very nippy, windy day, and thus, we threw on our jackets, braved the wind and chill and marched on, for the view of the city spread out from of the highest vantage point in Paris (I am merely guessing here, so could be wrong please don’t throw baguettes at me) and more importantly, the pictures. (Just kidding. Those didn’t turn out too great though, the wind threw all hair haywire and the bundled jackets all aesthetics)  We only lasted so long, I mean I was wearing a skirt, cut me some slack, so that stay didn’t last long but we did get to see the chambers Gustav Eiffel entertained Albert Einstein in. (How COOL is that!) You know what the best part is? Now, I get to say that I was once in my life at the very top of the Eiffel tower.

The City of Paris as seen from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

 

My second encounter with the Iron Maiden was from afar,a famous photo point for the Eiffel Tower,the Trocadero Place(And one that I highly recommend, it was a great place to take pictures!) so we could take pictures that actually had the whole tower in one frame and importantly, the typical very important Paris pictures to announce that we indeed were in the French capital. This photo shoot, owing to the lack of wind, was a great success.

My last and favourite encounter with the Tower was at midnight on our last night in Paris. We made the spontaneous decision to just grab a cab and watch the 4 minute light show on the Eiffel tower that takes place at midnight because hey, you only live once. So, with our hotel cab ( A delightful Mercedes Benz, Y’all) we whizzed through the city at night and that in itself is an experience. We reached the Trocadero Place again and soon the stars were dancing on the Eiffel tower. The show was magical and despite the early morning departure the next day, the hour we spent on the Trocadero Place, watching the lights twinkle on the Eiffel tower and eventually just the yellow lights glow as the city of Paris shined it seemed, for me, is what I consider my ” Paris” moment. It is my fondest memory of the city and something I would love to do again and again.

(Just a disclaimer/PSA: The lights on the Eiffel Tower are considered a work of art and are protected under copyright law and thus, while I did take pictures and videos, I don’t have the rights to share them here. (And I’m a little bit mad because I’d love to show you, but the law is what it is.))

And that’s it, folks! That’s all my Eiffel tower stories, anecdotes and encounters. ( For now, I hope.)It makes me so happy to be able to write this because this was such a major bucket list item for me and a life goal coming true. I am very fortunate to have been in the presence of Madame Eiffel and I’m very grateful for it. Here’s to fulfilling more life goals and ticking off more bucket list items! Cheers!

THIS POST’S QUESTION: Have you ever been to Eiffel Tower? What do you consider your fondest memory of it? Comment below with what you think about it,I’d love to hear from you!

For the next post in this series, click here.