We went to the Eiffel Tower today. I had high hopes, based on, amongst other things, the "Bonjour Paris" musical number from the movie "Funny Face" (can't seem to find a link).
Alas, it was not to be.
We arrived off the Metro/RER to find hawkers selling keyrings, sodas and fans (it was topping off at 90 degrees again). Add to that the gypsy women trying to get money and the scene was not at all romantic or beautiful.
The tower itself was an amazing site to see in person. The engineering it took to build it, impressive. I was just really put off by the tourist aspect of its surroundings.
We had bought our tickets in advance but still had to wait thirty minutes to ride the elevator up. The stairs may have been a more challenging way to go, but I wonder if the experience may have been better purely because we would have been moving. Instead, as we waited, we were surrounded by a teenage tour group. I am old, now I know it for sure. They were so loud and annoying, that I am sure that I crossed the threshold into old-grumpy-ladydom.
We did very much enjoy the views, though stopped at the 2nd level as there were just too many people to even think about going higher. But it was beautiful and so nice to see all of Paris laid out below.
In the end, I'm glad we went and got to see the glory of the tower and the many people who found it as amazing as we did.
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