|
StevoTrip2006 Friday, October 20, 2006
Eiffel Tour
I went past and around the Eiffel Tower a few times before I went up it. As I mentioned before, it was near my hotel, and it was an easy detour on the way to various things, notably the Arc De Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. So on both the Saturday I arrived, and on Sunday, I had a good walk around the base of it. But the queues were crazy, and so I saved my proper visit until the Monday, and spent most of a morning there. It gets more and more spectacular as you get closer: not so much just because its size becomes more apparent - though there is that - but because it looks less and less like the picture-postcard image. From near to underneath you can start to make out the incredible detail of the structure, and once you're under it the shape becomes really interesting, with lots of unusual angles and interesting new perspectives on its symmetries. And of course it's unusual in that it's such a tall structure that you can get under and within, and still see: like a transparent Empire State Building.    I went up via the lift and came down via the stairs (which take you up and down from the second of its three levels - only the lift goes to the top). This might sound silly, but once you start going up it, it really surprises you how big it is. When it was built it was the tallest building in the world, and it's very hard to believe that it was originally constructed as a temporary structure. The best way to convey what I'm talking about is to show you the lift ride up. Here's ground to level 1: I missed level 1 to 2 (I was expecting to have to change lift, so it caught me by suprise) but here's level 2 to the top. This really gives you a sense of how unexpectedly high it is: Once up there, the views of Paris is everything you'd expect - the central / historic area of Paris is otherwise free of high buildings (the nearest are at La Defense, at the far end of the Champs Elysees axis) so it really towers over everything. However, I still found myself most taken with the structure itself.      I'd like to thank the nice man who took the photo above for not stealing my camera. |
Because a holiday doesn't actually happen if you don't spend it in internet cafes describing it to other people. www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Paris, 2006. Make your own badge here.
Chobham I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside Worrying Signs Stonehenge With a Farm In It Lego London But Why Doesn't it Look Like Kirsten Dunst? London Round Up The Nerdiest Pub in Edinburgh Dunnotar Castle; Dissisar Castle |