A (Scary) Visit to the Eiffel Tower

Of course, we visited the Eiffel Tower while visiting Paris!

 

 

A great view of the tower.
 

 

 

 

We heard the lines were long, but were shocked to see lines lasting about 2+  hours! We watched these people 'dancing' in a circle under the center of the tower. It was the summer solstice and we believe it was some kind of religious activity.

 

 

As we waited in line, I took a few photos of the gorgeous ironworks.

 

 

Alex and I decided to leave everyone else to their long wait... and CLIMB to the top! (An image of Gustave Eiffel on the stairs.) There are two levels you can visit. We would climb to the top one, and then climb back down to the first one where everyone else would meet us.

 

 

This is a view of the Seine River during the climb up.

 

 

We made it to the VERY TOP!!! 668 STEPS!

 

 

A view of the Seine River from the top.

 

 

A recreation of Gustave Eiffel's office on the top deck.

 

 

s we looked around, it started to get dark. It was approaching midnight!
 

 

The Versailles Gardens has a firework show a couple of times a week.

We could see the fireworks off in the distance.

 

 

By now, I believe we were back on the lower deck. We'd been separated from our family for several hours... and we couldn't find them ANYWHERE! I was getting really nervous. The tower closed at 1 am, if I remember correctly, and it was approaching that time. There were not many people on the tower walking around, and I debated on what to do.

 

The sparkling light show that takes place at 12 & 1 am (I believe)

I finally decided we should take the elevator down and that, hopefully, we'd find our family. But, they weren't at the bottom, either! It was very late and dark out. We ended up talking to a guard and asking if we could stay near him until we found our family. He didn't speak English very well, but at least I felt a little more secure. I was starting to make plans for how we'd find a taxi... it was not a pleasant thought. But, thankfully...
 

 

My family finally showed up!!! They had went to the VERY top (which hadn't been their plan) and had got stuck in a very long line for the elevator. We had caught a ride from the lower level. We were so very thankful to be reunited!!! And, we all caught a ride and were happy to get back to the hotel. We' been at the tower for about 5 hours. We were thrilled to be reunited!