Eiffel Tower

The base of the Eiffel Tower

The other day, when I got stopped by the policier, we were headed to the Eiffel Tower. I had this picture in my head that the Eiffel tower is the icon of Paris and France. I mean it is probably the single most recognizable building, let alone probably one of the most recognizable structures in the world... I mean competiting against the Pyramids and the Great Wall of China I'd say it's doing pretty good. Seriously though when you get close to this thing it takes all of a second to realize how big this thing is. I mean it is so much wider then I thought it would be.

My first view of the Eiffel Tower up close

We approached the tower from the north, coming alongside the river. It is a pretty neat view, you can even see that the tower has a circle of stars on that side of the structure. There are tons of lovers trying to take snap shots of the tower in the background and tons of tourists doing the same. I think I took maybe 5 different peoples pictures before we left. Let's also not forget, for 3 Euros you can take home a keychain remembering your encounter from one of the many scam artists trying to make a quick buck. Boy can they get annoying. All of them carry the same ring of key chains with hundreds of silver or gold replica Eiffel Towers, probably worth 30cents a piece.

The view from the park.

I think the best view was from the park that is situated south of the tower. It is breathtaking and actually being right next to it was pretty cool. Just the architecture was pretty neat, being that it was built over 100 years ago. However, it does have more of a modern feel then most of Paris. I don't know how I feel about this. I mean I love the old town, the quaint little houses in Pontoise and Cergy, the old stones made for walls and the tiny passage ways and alleys that fill the city, and the cafe's on every new corner. But the Eiffel Tower stands alone, theres no other building like it.

The Eiffel n Me!!!

We didn't get to go on the top though, bc there was hunderds of people in line and only one towers lift was working.... THERES NO WAY I'M WALKING 81 FLOORS TO THE TOP... so I'll go up some other time. All in all though it was cool getting to see it with my own eyes.