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Post date: 03-Sep-2009 09:59:42
Today was the big day that Colin and I went up the 324m (including antennae) Eiffel Tower. It costs 8 euro to go to the second floor and 13 euro each to go to the top, so we decided to go all the way. We couldn't have picked a day to go up the top of the Eiffel Tower. We took some postcard perfect pictures of the tower with the blue cloud free sky.
The first elevator we took goes up the leg of the tower, so it travels at quite the angle and is very rickety. I had to hang on and my legs were shaking a bit. It felt very unstable and made me rather nervous. We admired the view from the second floor and I was okay with the height. We stood in a long queue to grab an elevator to the top and I did yoga breathing the whole time. The elevator to the top was much more stable and felt a lot safer. It was really cool to see it pass a whole bunch of workers. You could not pay me enough money to be strapped by a little harness and dangle from the tower while trying to hammer and tighten bolts.
We piled out of the elevator onto the enclosed observation deck and I felt better on this level. I was okay. We climbed a flight of stairs to the outside observation deck. I was okay until I walked on the sheeted metal floor and one sheet flexed back and forth. It banged as it indented in and out with my steps (that made my knees go wobbly). I thought for sure I was going to go through the metal sheet all the way to the bottom. I went to the edge and distracted myself by taking some pictures, so that helped. We could have toasted with champagne but not for 10 euros for a half glass.
I looked across Paris and took a picture of the Notre-Dame Cathedral which looked quite small from our height and far away. When I was in the towers of Notre-Dame, I took a picture of the Eiffel Tower.
We had another superb meal with the family we're staying with tonight. We had steak, pasta, cantelope and cheese from Normandy with Merlot. We also met the oldest daughter who just came back from shopping in London tonight. This cheese is Colin and I's favourite. It's aged to perfection and has an orangish rind. It has a few holes in in and a sharp, strong flavour.
I know I'm showing many pictures today, but these two show where we found a geocache at ground level and then the view of the same spot from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
You can view our other 139 immaculately clear sky pictures here.
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