The Eiffel Tower - La Tour Eiffel - is known everywhere as the symbol of France and is an engineering marvel. It towers over the Seine at 1063 feet tall and is still used today for broadcasting radio signals. Just like most other attractions in Paris, a large park lies in front of the Eiffel Tower.
The tower's iron lattice structure is simply amazing. Only when you get close to the tower do you realize that there is a lot more nothing than there is metal, but still the tower is as sturdy as a stone. In fact, engineers took note of the design and modeled future broadcasting towers after it because its lattice structure lowered wind resistance.Underneath the tower, there are four entrances - one at each leg. Fernando and I waited in line about 45 minutes to take one of the entrances with the stairs, since the lines for the entrances with the elevators were at least twice as long.
There is a good amount of humor in the tower, such as fake elevator drivers (dummies attached to the front of the car), as well as this toy construction worker (or should we say daredevil?).
As the Eiffel Tower is really the only "skyscraper" in the city, the view of all sides of the city was unobstructed, even from halfway up. The only way for tourists to go to the top is through the elevator, but we figured that it would be nice enough halfway up with the shorter wait in line.
Here we can see a good portion of the more modern portion of the city, and a hot air balloon far in the background!
And more of the city... these pictures are great but it shouldn't be surprising that they're not nearly as good as the actual view. I can't even recognize any of the buildings here!
And now: the compulsory "Yay, I'm at the Eiffel Tower!" picture...
As we walked back across the park, an Iranian pro-Mousavi protest was just about to begin. Hopefully it remained peaceful, but Fernando and I made sure to get out of there just in case.
Now you may be wondering how they turn the road into a beach. Since it was the first day, they were still getting set up. In fact, I'm pretty sure the road was still open to cars earlier that afternoon. For the first day, they already had the palm trees and some attractions and cafés set up.
However, beaches are of course much nicer with sand, and they do indeed eventually cover the decks with sand. Now swimming in the Seine is illegal, perhaps because it is an artery for boats, but as I have mentioned earlier, Parisians just love to sit and relax. Already on the first night of the beach being open, the decks were crowded with groups of friends having picnics.
On Sunday, Man-Yan, Amy, Fernando, and I went to the outskirts of town to try to get some free stuff from the Tour de France caravan, since the final stage was going into Paris that day. It turns out that at the particular section we were at, the caravan wasn't giving anything away. Well, at that point Fernando and I had to head home, since the last train from Paris to Turin leaves quite early at 3:25PM on Sundays, but Amy actually went over to the Champs-Elysées to catch the race (and try to get free stuff) and got to see Lance Armstrong up close! Fernando, Kristen, and I did see him before in Monaco, but he was fully-clad in his time trial helmet and skinsuit.
There is a good amount of humor in the tower, such as fake elevator drivers (dummies attached to the front of the car), as well as this toy construction worker (or should we say daredevil?).
As the Eiffel Tower is really the only "skyscraper" in the city, the view of all sides of the city was unobstructed, even from halfway up. The only way for tourists to go to the top is through the elevator, but we figured that it would be nice enough halfway up with the shorter wait in line.Across the river from the tower are the Trocadéro and Palais de Chaillot.
Here we can see a good portion of the more modern portion of the city, and a hot air balloon far in the background!
And more of the city... these pictures are great but it shouldn't be surprising that they're not nearly as good as the actual view. I can't even recognize any of the buildings here!
And now: the compulsory "Yay, I'm at the Eiffel Tower!" picture...
As we walked back across the park, an Iranian pro-Mousavi protest was just about to begin. Hopefully it remained peaceful, but Fernando and I made sure to get out of there just in case.Back in the downtown area, it turns out that the Paris Plage (Paris Beach) was opening that day. Looks like we definitely chose a good weekend to visit! In this annual event, a road along the Seine is completely closed off to cars and turned into a beach. The first thing we saw, on the way to the beach was a street performer with the largest crowd I have ever seen for anything like this. Even the bridge and the ledge above were filled!
Now you may be wondering how they turn the road into a beach. Since it was the first day, they were still getting set up. In fact, I'm pretty sure the road was still open to cars earlier that afternoon. For the first day, they already had the palm trees and some attractions and cafés set up.
However, beaches are of course much nicer with sand, and they do indeed eventually cover the decks with sand. Now swimming in the Seine is illegal, perhaps because it is an artery for boats, but as I have mentioned earlier, Parisians just love to sit and relax. Already on the first night of the beach being open, the decks were crowded with groups of friends having picnics.As we were returning home, the streets were finally beginning to light up, as the sun set really late that night (past 10PM). Paris is not the "City of Lights" for no reason!
On Sunday, Man-Yan, Amy, Fernando, and I went to the outskirts of town to try to get some free stuff from the Tour de France caravan, since the final stage was going into Paris that day. It turns out that at the particular section we were at, the caravan wasn't giving anything away. Well, at that point Fernando and I had to head home, since the last train from Paris to Turin leaves quite early at 3:25PM on Sundays, but Amy actually went over to the Champs-Elysées to catch the race (and try to get free stuff) and got to see Lance Armstrong up close! Fernando, Kristen, and I did see him before in Monaco, but he was fully-clad in his time trial helmet and skinsuit.Well, this concludes all of my updates on my travels outside of Turin this summer. Unless we change our mind, Fernando and I plan to stay in town this weekend while Kristen is in Barcelona, and then the weekend after that I am going back to the States! This also makes me remember that while I have been showing a lot of stuff from all over Italy and France, I have not shown all too much from Turin! But don't worry, we have been going around town here, and the remainder of my posts during my stay here will be on things to see and do in Turin and Italian culture. Stay tuned!
There's just so much more to know and learn about the symbol of Paris. From an engineering POV, tourism, and everything in between, the Eiffel Tower is more than just a status symbol. From the way the steel lattice is all constructed, to how the big tower is attracting scores of tourists every single day, it's just… awesome!
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