The tower that has become a symbol of Paris was constructed from 1887 to 1889. It is named after the engineer whose company designed and built the tower on Champ de Mars. It was the centrepiece of the 1889 World’s Fair.
It is a wrought-iron lattice tower, 330 metres high at the tip. It is possible to climb to the top floor 276 metres above the ground. (Or take 2 lifts, as we did) Its base is square, 125 metres on each side. Although it wasn’t popular at first, it is now the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world.
The tower has 3 levels for visitors. There are restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level platform is the highest observation accessible to the public in the EU.
Once in the grounds around the tower it looks very impressive.
We paid €28 each for a ticket to the top level. There were long queues to enter, to wait for the first lift and another for the second. It was well organised and we didn’t have to wait too long.
We went straight to the top from where there are spectacular views over the city below.
There is a closed area before a short walk up some stairs to the open area. There are some places mentioned with the distance from the tower. Sydney gets a mention, along with the Gold Coast and Heksinki. Brisbane missed out.
It was windy and crowded at the top.
The buildings are easier to pick out from the lower floor.
Soon it was time to take the 2 lifts back to the bottom and walk off to our next stop, Les Invalides and Napoleon’s tomb.
Climbing the tower was a fun and easy thing to do. It is a good things that the Eiffel Tower was not dismantled after the World Fair.