Great view even in hail! (Eiffel Tower)

Member Name: mizzy

Product:	Eiffel Tower
Date:	04/10/08 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing views of paris

Disadvantages: Long queues for lift up, very touristy

This massive Parisian landmark was originally built to impress visitors to the Universal Exhibition of 1889, and was supposed to be temporary.

When you get there watch out for the hundreds of street sellers that are very persistant and annoying. My boyfriend persuaded me to walk to the second floor, as it was cheaper (3.80euro each) and the queue was a lot shorter than that of the lift. We walked up to the first floor, I am scared of heights and was very scared, as it was quite windy, and there although there is a cage enclosing the stairs, you are at the mercy of the elements!

The first floor had a great view, and an interesting selection of exhibits that show how the tower moves and expands with the weather. This scared me a bit, as we were about to go to the second floor.

As we went up the winds got stronger and I got more scared. There were a lot of large groups of school children virtually running up, and this made me more nervous!

However the view from the second floor was even better. You can see further, and get some amazing sights of all the main landmarks.

They also have lots of exhibitions of the sights you are seeing, so that you can identify landmarks that you might have missed.

It started to hail as we started to walk down the stairs. I decided that enough was enough and that we should get in the queue for the lift down.

We waited about 5 minutes in the hail for the lift, with several annoying french people pushing in the queue, to a stern telling off from the English! We didnt have to show a ticket to get down in the lift, which I though was odd, so we saved about 12 euros and were still able to get the lift down.

The lift was much better, it was quick, felt safe and you got a greaet moving view.

The old original lift still works, and I thought that was amazing! On the outside of the lift is a model of an old french lift engineer. They used to have to sit on the outside of the lift!

I really enjoyed the views, but not the walk! If you are scared of heights and dont mind paying a bit more, I would recommend getting the lift.

The only annoying thing about it is that it is so touristy that the sellers constantly badger you to buy bits of tat. They all sell the same thing and its really annoying.

The tower can be reached easily by several metro stations, and there are a lot of gardens around it to get some good pictures.

Summary: Glad I did it