Thursday 12th September 2019 The plan was to go up the Eiffel Tower early and when we arrived there were signs alerting visitors to the fact that the upper level might be forced to close. We therefore decided to go to the very top first and work our way down. The views are impressive, with the River Seine snaking its way through the city to left and right . . . . . . while the Champ-de-Mars spreads out toward the Place Joffre and the École Militaire. Partly due to its sheer height – the Eiffel Tower measures 324 metres to the tip – even famous landmarks can be hard to identify and we struggled to find Sacré Coeur from the platform at the summit, although we found it could be seen clearly silhouetted against the sky from the lower viewing platform. Apparently Gustave Eiffel built himself a small apartment at the top of the tower where, accompanied by his daughter Claire, he hosted exclusive receptions for important guests. This has been staged to show the visit by Thomas Edison on 10 September 1889, when he gave Gustave Eiffel a model of the famous phonograph which he had just presented […]
2019 Paris
Tuesday 10th September 2019 One of the many pleasures of being able to devote more time to travelling is returning to cities and places which we have already visited without feeling we are sacrificing seeing somewhere new. Invariably, each visit is different and this time it was a specific exhibition which inspired us to bring our younger daughter on the Eurostar on her first trip to Paris. The top section of the Eiffel Tower is visible from our hotel room so, having deposited our luggage in the early evening, we took a walk down towards the closest Kusmi Tea shop where Matilda invested in some of her new favourite blend: St Petersburg. It is a variation on Earl Grey with additional hints of red berry and caramel. Mindful of the environmental impact of tea bags she bought loose leaf tea. From here we continued on towards the River Seine and the Eiffel Tower. We had both visited Paris independently before we met and have returned several times since our first visit together in 1992. But none of our joint visits have yet included the Eiffel Tower. This time we have booked to go up all the way this elegant engineering […]