The Events of Tuesday, April 26, 2011

                Today is our ten-month trip anniversary. We have been on the road around the world for ten long months. But now we’re in Paris! We woke up in our lovely Parisian flat in four separate rooms, rather than in two, yet, we all awoke around the same time. We showered and ate breakfast before heading out to explore. First stop: Eiffel Tower – duh!

                We walked down our street, Boulevard de Magenta, a bit to the bus stop, caught the bus, rode it to Trocadéro, disembarked, walked around a roundabout, turned the corner around a serious governmental-looking building and – voila! – there it was. It was impressive, massive, enormous, and amazing, all at the same time. Our jaws dropped in unison, and we whispered, “Whoa”.

                Instantly we were rudely accosted by men of Indian and African descent selling all sorts of trinkets, the most popular being scale models of the Eiffel Tower in various sizes. We said “no” a thousand time during our walk towards the tower (in French, known as ‘Tour Eiffel’. Once we finally arrived under it, we wandered around for quite a while, trying to decide which lengthy line to join, and eventually settling on the ‘stairs only’ line. We joined the line around 11:30 and reached the ticket office at about 12:45.

                Along the way, we snacked on crackers and carrots and were entertained by French police officers on bikes chasing off the men of African and Indian descent selling merchandise. Their “shops” consisted of trinkets spread on white blanket squares, that they could quickly gather, ‘close up shop’ and run. Because they do not have a permit to sell their goods, every so often, the salesmen would pick up the blankets, glance anxiously in a particular direction, and then either run, re-set up shop, or wander around and talk to one another. Also common were the dark-skinned women with clipboards and pens, waving at people and pantomiming for them to sign their “petitions”. 

                Eventually, however, we proceeded through a bit of security and to the stairs. Climbing 328 stairs, we found ourselves on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Unbelievable? I believe it! Right there in front of us was a section of the original stairs – a historical staircase! Gustave Eiffel used this very staircase to climb up to his office at the top.

                We took lots of pictures, saw the movie, wandered around the perimeter and observed the panoramic (and somewhat hazy) view, read every sign describing the making of the tower, and then sat down in the little café eating area for a much-needed lunch break. Having no bread, we decided that French croissants were the way to go, and sent Lindsey and Daddy to purchase some. They were fresh out of croissants in the outdoor vending area, so poor Lindsey and Daddy had to wait in a very long line inside before arriving successful, with six warm, flaky croissants. These, accompanied by cheese, apples, and peanuts, made for a delicious lunch.

                After lunch, we climbed higher and circled the tower again. Now for some informative but boring history and statistics. The Eiffel Tower was built by Gustave Eiffel for the Universal exhibition in 1889, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution. Erected in record time (two years, two months and five days) it was an immediate success. Today, it is the symbol of France throughout the world and has over seven million visitors per year. Its nickname is the “Iron Lady”. The height of the tower, including the antennae, is 324 meters, and it weighs 10,100 tons. 336 floodlights bathe the tower in golden light, while 20,000 bulbs contribute to the twinkling light for five minutes at the beginning of each hour from nightfall to one in the morning. The paint job requires sixty tones of paint approximately every seven years.

                We climbed a total of 670 stairs up, and just as many stairs down. Touring the tower took us a lot longer than we had expected it to, and we were by this point quite tired. So we wandered slowly through the Champ de Mars (the gardens surrounding the tower) for more pictures, before heading back the direction we had come, catching another bus, and riding to the Paris Opera House. However, when we arrived, there were no more tours being offered that day, and we could not purchase advanced tickets for any tours later in the week.

                Now truly exhausted, we caught yet another bus back to our street and walked back to the apartment, where Daddy and Lindsey then left to go grocery shopping and the rest of us fixed dinner. When they returned, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of tortellini in marinara sauce and pesto sauce, fried potatoes (French fries in France!), French baguette bread, and Easter chocolate for dessert. After dinner, we relaxed, rejuvenated, and recharged our batteries, so that we would be rearin’ and ready to explore more of Paris tomorrow.