Honestly, before yours truly set foot in Paris, I had only two sincere hopes for the city—
Paris Number One: Please, street magicians and master thieves, don’t pick me. Let me continue my journey with both myself and my wallet intact.(Once again demonstrating just how terrified this woman was of public safety in Paris.) (So why, in all my ignorance, did I make Paris my first stop…?)；
Paris Number Two: Ultimately, wasn’t I here just to meet the Eiffel Tower (officially Tour Eiffel) and see for myself exactly how intoxicating that legendary image of romantic Paris could be?
[ This is an article packed with all the Eiffel Tower you could possibly want ]
What I never expected was that after meeting it on my first night in Paris, I would fall completely under its spell. Whether planned, spontaneous, or entirely unexpected, I wanted to catch a glimpse of it every day I was in Paris. I longed to discover its many faces at different hours—by daylight, at sunset, and at night—and watch the changing shades cast across its structure as Mother Nature’s giant lamp dimmed from bright to dark.
I even ventured out alone at night—despite firmly reminding myself that this was precisely what I should avoid—and rode the Métro to a viewing deck with my nerves jangling, all so I could see the tower glowing in the night.If this was love at first sight, then this little lady really was willing to walk through fire for love.
[ This is also a love letter to Eiffel ]
Only after experiencing it myself did I finally understand why the Eiffel Tower has become a building so coveted by people around the world. Although many French people despised it when it was completed for the 1887 World’s Fair, history has vindicated it: today it is the world’s most visited paid monument—not to mention all the penny-pinchers who keep their wallets firmly shut and admire it for free (including yours truly).Its allure is powerful enough to make people brave Paris’s public-safety woes and travel thousands of miles just to see it.。
[ Wherever Eiffel is, crowds gather. Maybe the Eiffel Tower is actually a giant people magnet ]
The Eiffel Tower is like a beacon in Paris, the City of Flowers.Standing 320 metres tall amid the seven- and eight-storey historic buildings of central Paris, it is never difficult to spot it somewhere in the city—around a corner or between rows of apartment buildings.It always let me know where I was, helping me get my bearings even when I was lost.(So did Paris first design streets that are ridiculously easy to get lost in and then need the tower as a guide, or did they figure that since the tower could guide everyone anyway, they were free to build the streets in whatever confusing mess they pleased?)For the full story, see this poor victim’s article overflowing with grievances. ）
It constantly reminds us that we are in Paris.When you lose yourself in this city, looking up at it might remind you why you came.(What? You say there’s no way anyone living in Paris could feel lost? You’d better ask the Taiwanese expats who have settled there. They could rant about thoseF-rustrating French peoplefor three days and three nights.)
[ Behind every romance is a brutal backstage reality. Even Paris, capital of romance, has a side that only insiders can see ]
Paris was the first stop for my Europe-worn legs, and during my five days there,the Eiffel Tower did not belong to any single day of my itinerary; it occupied my memories of every day in Paris. Its steel has a powerful hardness, yet its curves are graceful. Beneath the daylight sun, in the blush of sunset, and illuminated against the night, I would gladly see the Eiffel Tower three hundred times.
Viewpoint One: The 56th-floor observation deck of Tour Montparnasse
My love at first sight with Eiffel happened on my very first night after arriving in France, when I followed my junior schoolmate Xiaohui, who had been living in Paris for years, up Tour Montparnasse on the southern side of central Paris. At 210 metres, it was the second-tallest building in the city after the Eiffel Tower. Thanks to it—and its thoroughly tacky appearance—Paris imposed strict construction limits to prevent any more commercial skyscrapers like it from being built.
[ The best time to visit is probably around dusk, when you can watch the view transform from daylight to sunset and then darkness in one sitting ]
Ugly though it may be,this is unquestionably the best place to see the Paris skyline and the Eiffel Tower at night, because from here Tour Montparnasse itself won’t be ruining your view. Isn’t that perfectly logical? By the same reasoning, if the Paris you want to see includes the Eiffel Tower, then don’t go up the Eiffel Tower.
From the observation deck on the 56th floor, every building in Paris shrank into a tiny speck, and even the Eiffel Tower looked as adorable as a model. All of Paris lay beneath our feet. We watched from dusk until darkness as the Eiffel Tower slowly lit up before us and the city’s tiny bulbs flickered on one by one, revealing an entirely different face.
On my first day in Paris, I began by taking in the whole city from afar before gradually moving closer and getting to know it. I surveyed the panorama, admiring all the neighbourhoods I would soon explore one by one. I could hardly wait to throw myself into those buildings and put my Europe-worn legs to work across the land below, ready to be amazed by it all.
Tour Montparnasse information (as of October 2016)
Adult ticket for one visit to the top: €15
Adult ticket for two visits to the top within 48 hours: €20
Transport: Take Métro lines 4, 6, 12, or 14 to Montparnasse–Bienvenüe station
Address: 33 avenue du Maine, 75015 PARIS
Opening hoursSee the official website (Traditional Chinese)
Viewpoint Two: The banks of the Seine
Starting from Notre-Dame and the Louvre, I strolled all the way along the Right Bank of the Seine. The route offered beautiful river views and buildings that carried me through time, giving me a refresher course on the timeline of Parisian history. As I walked, the Eiffel Tower appeared ahead, peeking in and out between trees and buildings before occasionally revealing itself in full. It accompanied me along this historic path, sending me constantly back and forth between modern engineering and the character of old Paris.
Information on the banks of the Seine and Paris’s historic axis
The Historic Route Between the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France
Viewpoint Three: Palais de Chaillot
Before leaving, I had read in a guidebook that Palais de Chaillot was the best place to see Eiffel. So I slowly walked there from the Arc de Triomphe. The buildings beside me blocked the rest of the view, and throughout the 20-minute walk I couldn’t see Eiffel at all. I had no idea whether the journey would be worth it, much less what sort of scene awaited me. All I could do was keep walking and find out.
Then, suddenly, a broad terrace and steps appeared ahead. The buildings to my left fell away, and there stood the enormous Eiffel Tower in perfect clarity. With only the Seine between us, the tower and I came face to face. Sure enough,Palais de Chaillot is a brilliant place to admire the Eiffel Tower up close, nearly level with it and squarely from the front!
[ Thanks to the height and angle, the tower may be across the river, but it looks like a model placed right on the terrace of Palais de Chaillot ]
The instant I saw the tower, I stopped breathing for a moment. Its commanding presence moved me so deeply that I practically skipped and sprinted to the edge of the viewing terrace. It looked like an enormous painting hanging before me—so dreamlike it seemed fake, yet so real and so close. The feeling was truly magical. I suppose that is one of travel’s greatest charms.
[ “A dream come true” is probably the only way to describe it ]
At sunset the following day, I returned to Palais de Chaillot. The steel tower, which had looked black before, now glowed golden in the setting sun. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I might have assumed every photo online had been colour-graded. How could a tower possibly change colour?
All right, Eiffel. You’ve enchanted me yet again.
On my final night before leaving Paris, I had planned to stay at my accommodation, rest, and sort through my photos. Paris after dark really was not the place to wander around, especially for a woman travelling alone. But as I flipped through my photos of the tower, a tangle of emotions grew inside me. These four or five brief days of encounters with Eiffel had been wonderful, yet somehow they still weren’t enough. The thought flashed through my mind that I had no idea when I would see it again. Thirty seconds later, I stood up, grabbed my bag, threw on my coat, and rushed out the door. I had decided to see it one last time, up close beneath the cover of night.
Clutching my pepper spray, I sprinted into the Métro station (my bizarre strategy for being afraid of bad people while insisting on going out anyway) (apparently I was already laying the groundwork for my future life as a runner). With my nerves on edge, I rode all the way to Trocadéro, the nearest station to Palais de Chaillot. The instant Eiffel appeared before me, all the tension drained away. I had held nothing back for it, and I was thoroughly satisfied.
Palais de Chaillot information (as of October 2016)
Transport: Take Métro line 6 to Trocadéro station
Viewpoint Four: Beneath the Eiffel Tower
Walking down the slope or steps beside Palais de Chaillot and heading towards the tower, Eiffel grew taller and larger until my camera could barely fit it all in the frame. Only up close did I discover just how intricate and densely interwoven its details were.Standing directly beneath the tower, I found myself admiring Eiffel and the people of 130 years ago. How could they have designed and built such a precise high-rise from a structure that looked so simple?It remained the tallest structure in the world for 45 years. But there is no time limit on its lofty place in people’s hearts.
[ And beneath the tower, countless visitors are always queueing for their turn to go up ]
Viewpoint Five: Champ de Mars
The area beneath the Eiffel Tower is essentially Champ de Mars. I passed under the tower and headed towards the park’s vast lawn, where many people were sitting or lying on the grass, gazing at the tower while enjoying picnics. I turned around and discovered the silhouette cast by the setting sun. It was so beautiful that I couldn’t bear to take another step, so I sat down on the grass with everyone else and refused to leave until night had fallen.
Viewpoint Five: Any Street Corner or Bend
But the greatest pleasure in Paris is unexpectedly catching sight of the Eiffel Tower somewhere in the city, perhaps tucked between apartment buildings and narrow lanes. All I could do was keep my eyes wide open, anticipating the surprise that might await at every intersection and corner. It gave you a little space yet followed you like a shadow, reminding you, “Hey! Don’t forget—you’re in Paris.”
[ I turned to look down a lane I had just passed, and the Eiffel Tower was hiding right there ]
My confession of love to Eiffel: a five-day romance. So this, I suppose, is what people mean by romantic Paris!
✈ Travel dates: 2012/6/29–7/3
| Follow My Europe-Worn Legs | France in 9 Days series
● France: Not Quite What You Expected?
● France Day 1 – What?! You Can’t Get By in English at Charles de Gaulle, France’s Biggest International Airport?
● France Day 1 – The Palace of Versailles in Paris, France: Clearing the Blocked Historical Connections in My Head
● France Day 2 – No Getting Lost, No Reward: Discovering the Old-World Charm of the Palais Garnier in Paris, France
● France Day 2 – The Historic Route Between the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France—and My Lamentable Ignorance of History
● France Day 3 – The Louvre in Paris, France: That Faint Smile Hidden Away in a Gilded Palace
● France Day 3 – My Own Impressions of Paris! Impressionist Masterpieces at the Musée de l’Orangerie and Musée d’Orsay
● France Day 4 – Mont-Saint-Michel, France: So This Is Where the Hole in My Head Came From
● France Day 5 – Two Holy Sites in One Parisian Day: Two Sides of Paris at Sacré-Cœur and Notre-Dame
● France Days 1–5 – The Eiffel Tower: Five Views of This Enchanting Beacon of Paris
● France Day 6 – Avignon, the Ancient Provençal City Even More Beautiful at Sunset
● France Day 7 – Living It Up in the Lavender Fields and Red Towns of Provence, Southern France
● France Day 8 – Arles in Southern France: The Roman Empire Through My Eyes and Van Gogh’s Brush
● France Day 8 – Another Ancient Roman Town in Southern France: Does Nîmes Blend Old and New Any Better?
● France Day 9 – That Year, I Became Part of the Festival d’Avignon….
| Follow My Europe-Worn Legs | 85 Days Around Europe, 16 CountriesComplete list of more articles
