Ever since I was a little man I wanted to visit this. Today that dream came true.
We arrived just at opening but even then had to wait about an hour before we could start the ascent. And this was in the shortest line, since we’d opted for the stairs.
Security was very tight, including bag checks, metal detectors, a visible police presence and numerous warning signs for pickpockets. That said the morale of the (very large) crowds was high, and the overall experience was a good one.
The tower had three viewing levels, the lower two accessible via stairs and the summit only accessible (to the public) by a lift. There are 670 stairs from the ground to the second level (about 40% of the height of the tower) and we climbed them all. The above photo was taken from this level looking northwest. See the shadow of the tower?
It wasn’t enough to go only halfway up though – we of course bought a second ticket and rode the lift to the very top! The lift is mostly glass, and the views as you ascend (like the above photo) are magnificent. Here are some photos from the summit of the tower, 300 m above the ground:
If you look carefully at the second of these photos, you may be able to work out where I stood to take the one at the start of this post.
We were very impressed with the tower. It certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the world’s foremost tourist attractions 🙂
Afterwards we headed to The Catacombs, but the line was extremely long and very slow-moving so we decided to walk to a nearby park. Much like the rest of the city, it was full of ancient statues (and tourists!). This lion – just one of dozens in the park – was cast in 1870:
We returned to the Notre Dame area to shop at the riverside vendors that seem to line the streets for miles.
Selling mostly books and art prints, this is a fascinating place to shop and one that certainly made me wish I had a bigger suitcase. I’m sure KLS would have gone crazy buying prints here!
Needless to say I made a few purchases myself, including of the postcard variety. Watch your mail boxes dear readers, a little piece of Paris may arrive one day soon 🙂