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22 December 2024
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.

My mum would have told you I have already been to the Eiffel Tower. She was pregnant with me when she visited it in 1966.

About the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It was named after the engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design. However, it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world.

The tower is 1,063 feet tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. Its base is square, 410 feet on any one side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, which it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930.

The tower has three visitor levels, with restaurants on the first and second. The third level observatory's upper platform is 906 feet above the ground, the highest accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. Although there are stairs to the third and highest level, they are usually closed to the public and generally only accessible by lift.

I want to go and make the climb, or rather get the lift to the top, and get a view of Paris from the Tower Eiffel. Strangely, as I live relatively close to France and Paris, I have never visited Paris as an adult to look around.

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