When I moved to Europe, travelling to Paris was on top of my check list and Eiffel tower was a “Must See”. I’d seen umpteen classics with Eiffel tower set in the background, a beautiful sunset and a surprising proposal that completed a romantic setting. I was in awe of the awe created around Eiffel.
Bonjour Paris
So a few years back, when I was in Paris for the first time, seeing the Eiffel tower from a distance brought up a great deal of excitement.
As the hop on hop off bus took circles around the city, I turned my head 360 degrees to get a glimpse of the tower from every angle
Outside the Eiffel
As soon as I got off the bus, I was surrounded by desperate roadside mongers. They saw me looking at those tiny Eiffel miniatures and pounced at once with their discount offers.
I ended up buying three Eiffels, one for each corner of my home. (at least that’s what I think now, I bought them for).
Satisfied with my haggling skills, I headed towards the actual Eiffel.
Is everyone in Paris, standing here?
At first sight, it was not the Eiffel that grabbed my attention but rather that two km long queue to the Eiffel. I couldn’t believe that all those people were lined up to see the tower. It was peak of the summer and all angry, tired and sweaty tourists were lined up in a day-long queue.
Soon, I became one of them.
After three gruesome hours
By the time, it was my turn to enter the Eiffel, I was almost on my knees
I was exhausted from standing three hours straight and I remember shifting my weight over each leg every few minutes. Every time someone left the queue, I jumped on my feet to quickly move ahead. A single miss and four new people would squeeze in the queue. 😡
I was glad, I had an empty bladder before starting the Eiffel marathon. 😎
Finally, On top of the Eiffel tower
At the Eiffel, they offered two options to climb the tower – either stairs or elevator. I chose the latter as I simply couldn’t imagine climbing 600+ stairs to the top. 😯
From the top of the Eiffel, Paris looked like a Lego city.
If you’ve been on the top of any tower, you probably know what the city looks like from a distance. Eiffel was no different in that sense. Except that it consumed every ounce of my energy to get to the top of this tower. So, in the end I just felt proud of my brave victory.
I remember every corner of the tower was occupied with someone taking a selfie. I too, squeezed in between to have a picture, classically titled “On the top of the Eiffel”.
At last, It was over
After spending close to five hours in this overhaul, it was time to sit back and relax. I took an hour long river cruise over Seine (which was easy to get into) for sight seeing the city. The Eiffel was lit beautifully and I could see a picture perfect Eiffel even from a distance.
And just then the Eiffel started twinkling in the night. Mesmerized by this view, I couldn’t stop thinking why I went through all that trouble of climbing the Eiffel. 🙄
For what it’s worth – Let me announce the visit
It didn’t make sense to visit the Eiffel if no one around me knew about that “wonderful” visit.
As someone had to be the torch bearer of maintaining the awe of Eiffel, I went ahead to announce my Eiffel visit 😛
Side effects
Looking at those wonderful pictures, my friends and family decided to put Eiffel in their wish list. So when they came over to visit me last year, I ended up going to Eiffel two more times. 😥
I survived.
And since then I stopped promoting Eiffel.
I’ve been there. Done that. I don’t wanna be there any more.
© Copyright 2020. Megha Gupta. All rights reserved.