My Eiffel Tower Experience

I know it's a cheesy French cliche, but I couldn't wait to see the Eiffel Tower! We checked into our hotel and I stepped out onto the balcony and saw her across the city calling to me...


The next day we saw her from our boat tour, closer but still far away:



I had to wait a whole day, but I finally went to visit. Isn't she lovely?



We attended a tour of the Tower with our group, and the first thing I noticed were the military guards at the base with machine guns. A little creepy...



The Tower's engineer (did you know she is managed by a private company?) spoke to us about the construction and the tons of paint that will be removed this year (once they figure out how to remove it). He told us about the elevator system, then took us down to "the beast" to show us the hydraulics.

Here they are, but that guy was so dreamy (a cross between George Clooney and Antonio Banderis...sigh), none of the women can remember a thing he said about this system. I just know, it runs using water and is lubricated using recycled french fry grease! (as the women ascended the stairs the chatter was all: "did you see the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed? Oh, his hair is just perfect! I wonder what his wife looks like, he was wearing a wedding ring you know. I bet she's either beautiful or rich!" Yeah, we're pathetic.)



After all of that elevator talk, we jumped in to try it out. Aaaallll the way to the top. From here, we could see Paris laid out before us:



Apparently, I lost my mind and forgot to get a proper picture of her lit but I did take these looking up at her as we left:





Okay, next I will show you some of my favorite photos from my trip to wrap up. So, I'll meet you here Monday. Don't be late!

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