On Saturday, we all just rested up all day--a week of rushing around a new city is tiring, especially with jet lag. I woke up late in the afternoon. Mme. de Richemont was out of town in the Bordeaux region for the weekend, so I had the apt. to myself. I walked around the neighborhood with my mp3 player just enjoying and relaxing. I got a crepe for dinner at a stand, which, of course, was delicious. It was a clear day, with the Eiffel Tower in sight so I decided it was a good time to go to the top. I walked over and waited in the line to take the stairs, which was much shorter than the elevators. I had to buy a ticket to get to the first and second levels, then I'd have to buy another to take the elevator to the summit. I think it's important to note that around the base of the Eiffel Tower, as well as a few other places around the city, there are national police with huge automatic guns. You think the US has good national security? Think again. These guys look mean and trigger happy; and France isn't even at war or under CODE ORANGE...what a joke.
I finally got to the front of the line and bought my ticket. On to the first floor. The stairs are actually easy to climb because there are a few steps, then a flat, followed by a few more steps, then a landing. So you really don't get tired going up. I thought I was pretty high up at the first level. I took pictures all around, as it was dusk and looked nice all around. Onto the next level. Once again, I thought I was high now, and realized I wasn't very high before. Taking more pictures 360 degrees around. There are restaurants, gift shops, and even a post office on these first couple of levels. I wanted to mail some post cards because they get stamped with the official Eiffel Tower post office stamp, but it was closed so late. I bought my ticket to take the elevator to the top and wait in line for it. The elevator went really fast to the top, as several people were crammed into the small lift. At the top, there is a closed in area with glass. On the celing there are the flags of countries with how far away they are in that direction. I found the US ones for washington d.c., NYC, and LA on the west side of the tower and snapped a photo. Then I found the stairs and made my way up to the open platform above. Beautiful. Now, I actually was high up. The South and West sides were incredibly windy. It was dark now and the search lights were on. I could watch them rotate from just a few feet away. Also there are several radio and tv antenna on the top, along with some lightning rods. Up there I took pictures all the way around again. The City of Lights was impressive at night. There was also small rooms in the middle. On the South side a room with wax figures of Eiffel and two engineers planning the tower. On the opposide side, a room that Eiffel built for his daughter, which had wax figures of them. I stayed up there for quite some time, until most of the tourists had left. It was very peaceful up there by myself and a few others. As the tower was closing, a guy came around and said in French to come down. I thought he worked there, but going down I found out he and his wife were Swiss. They were very nice as I talked to them down the elevator. He first thought I completely understood him in French, but as I had a weird face of trying to understand him, he asked if I spoke french. I told him a little (in french). Then he asked in German if I spoke German (do I look German with my red hair?) Finally I told him I was American, and he spoke clear English to me. He and his wife spoke three languages fluently and clearly-impressive. We had a little chit-chat going down, as my ears actually popped because were were that high up and going down so fast. While on the second floor, the tower had the light show for the 3rd time that night. There are little strobe lights all over it that go off in random patterns. It was neat to see it from this angle and not from the ground.
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| Day 6 - Saturday |
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