Today we went to the Eiffel Tower and when we got there, there were all these people selling little statues and key chains of the Eiffel Tower. There were concession stands and a carousel, and it was really crowded.

During his time, Mr. Eiffel was largely considered a masochist for making people stand in long lines to do something they were not at all sure they would survive.

We couldn’t buy tickets beforehand online because they were all sold out, so we had to find out which line was the ticket line. Mom figured out that one of the lines would be for people who wanted to take the elevator all the way up and the other line was for people who wanted to take the stairs. We opted to take the stairs.
It was a very, very long line, even though the stairs line was shorter than the elevator line. It curved way out underneath the tower. Dad waited in line for about an hour while the rest of us played SpotIt in the square under the Eiffel Tower, which was extrememly dusty. (*Editor’s note: Dad was really the hero of this whole event.) We got back into line when Dad was relatively close to the booth, but we waiited in line for another hour because the line curved around a lot right before the ticket booth.
Eventually we got our tickets — the kind where you walk to the second floor and then you take the elevator to the summit. To get up to the second floor was a little more than 700 steps up.

It was really cool climbing the stairs and it was really cool because we could see all the people below us getting smaller and smaller. About halfway up to the first floor, Nadia started getting a little freaked out becuase of the height. When we got to the first floor, she decided to stay there instead of coming with the rest of us.
Also, on the first floor for part of it there was a glass floor that Zoe stood on easily, but I got a little freaked out. It was scary because it was a long way to the ground and you could see right past your feet all the way down. Mom and Dad decided that they wouldn’t risk standing on the glass. Standing on the glass was one of the scarier parts of the whole experience.
We started climbing the stairs to the second floor. Even though there was a cage around us, and you couldn’t see down through the stairs, I started feeling like the stairs were going to break and that I was going to fall. I think I felt this way because I looked through the glass floor. I just kept walking up even though I felt a little scared.

When we got to the second floor, I was good again. It feels a lot more sturdy on the platforms than on the stairs. We looked around a little bit but not a lot because we had to get to the top and then get back down to catch our Batobus boat. It was about 8:15 at this point, and the last boat left from the tower at 9:30.
There was a pretty short line to get into elevator to the top. This part was a little bit boring because we had to wait, and we weren’t near the edge of the tower; it was exciting because we were going up to the summit.

Dad leading from behind

Actually, I may revise my opinion: The elevator may have been scarier than the glass floors. The elevator ride was a pretty long way, so you kept thinking, “Why aren’t we there yet?” Meanwhile you could see all the beams and everything, and you could see yourself getting really high. There were windows on all sides of the elevator so you could how high you were. There were maybe 10 people in the elevator; there wasn’t much room to move around. Once you started going up, there wasn’t much you could do. That was another scary thing.

And then we were at the summit. The elevator doors opened and actaully this part was not very scary for me. It was really high up, but there was another metal platform and glass windows and a ceiling. The view from the windows was absolutely beautiful. You could see a long way in all directions. There were a lot of people on this floor, but we could still move around.

Dad took this picture. He was really up there!

There was one more flight of stairs to the very top. There was no ceiling or glass here and the whole platform was enclosed by a tall metal cage. We didn’t spend a ton of time there because of the boat, but we walked all the way around and we took some pictures.
From up on top of the Eiffel Tower you could see all the streets and all the cars and lots of people who looked so small you could barely make them out. Because there was a metal cage and because I knew I wouldn’t fall, it didn’t mind looking down.

Blah blah blah view

After we look around for a little bit, maybe 10 minutes, we went back down. We took the elevator to the second floor, then walked down to the first floor to find Nadia. The first floor did not seem scary to me because there was a fence around it and it wasn’t that high up compared to the summit.

Dad is Mom’s hero.

We made it back in time to get to the boat and then we took the boat home. When we were in the boat, the sun was setting. It was almost dark and the sun stained the clouds different colors. By time we go back to our apartment it was dark.

Back in time for the boat. Dad was at the top of that!

I really enjoyed going to the top of the tower and writing this blog about it.