Day Eight: 29 Aug. 2002

The light around the edges of the curtains seems unusally bright and warm - could it be?? Yes! The sun is out! Actually it's partly cloudy, and a bit hazy, but Kathryn and I grin at each other. "The Eiffel Tower?" K asks. "Yes!" We go back to the delightful terrace of the Samaritaine for breakfast, and the sun is behind clouds again. Because of the haze, Sacre-Coeur is barely visible, and La Grande Arc de la Defense has faded away completely. We enjoy our Croque Monsieur and write some postcards. The sky brightens up, and we high-tail it to the Metro. We take the 1 from the dreaded Chatelet Les Halles station to Charles de Gaulle Etoille (right under the Arc de Triomphe) and transfer to the 6, which takes us up above ground and crosses the Seine just southwest of the tower. Wow. Beautiful day. It appears that everyone in Paris had the same idea ("La Tour Eiffel?" "Oui!"), and we bustle our way through the crowd headed toward the tower. My god, it's huge! We get into a line at the the North Pillar, and I go to scout for more info: Can I buy a ticket? Which line? Credit cards? Cartes Musées? Meanwhile Kathryn finds out we're in the line for tour groups. We leave that line and go to the end of another, much longer line, and get smoked on for half an hour as the line creeps forward. We look up to see the enormous square 1st floor of the tower. At the base of the North leg is a gold bust of Eiffel himself on a tall pedestal. Finally we get to the ticket-buying queue, and the line totally comes apart into a single shoving mass. Particularly annoying is an elbowy woman in bad glasses whom we nickname "the Busy Belgique." We finally get on the lift, close to a side window, and up we go, with the park below getting quickly smaller.

We're really here! No one gets off at the first level. The second level is chaotic, as we try to find our way to the second, central, straight-up lift. On the way, we're in a line making its way around the southeastern side, and we gawk at the view. Magnifique! Kathryn jokes with some cute Polish kids in the line, and we talk to a woman with a "Colorado" t-shirt, only to learn that that's just the name of a popular clothing company in Australia. Finally get into the lift, and this one has a window in the roof. I watch our progress up what looks like a vertical train track. We get to the top, and there's an inside section with panoramas under the windows, pointing out the landmarks below. We go up the stairs to the outside section and walk around in the breeze, on top of Paris. There's still a bit of haze, but the combination of clouds and sun is lovely, and we marvel at the vastness of the city. This is the first time I've seen anything behind Sacre Couer! We look up again at the remainder of the tower, which is mostly radio gear. There's actually a bathroom up here, so we make use of it, and there's a slight feeling of accomplishment, like when one visits the Great Divide and decides which side to pee on: Atlantic or Pacific? We're suprised that the Bois de Bologne seems so close, and also that La Defense is way on the other side of it. It's a cluster of generic skyscrapers in a city full of charming 6-story buildings. I think a lot of the grandeur of Paris has to do with its height limits. If those skyscapers had grown up right around the Eiffel Tower, or if the Tower was placed in modern Manhattan, it would lose a lot. The skyline of Paris is so grand because, for the most part, it's on a human scale.

We take the lift down to the second level and browse the gift shop - not much of interest there. Then - surprise! we choose to walk down to the first level. The stairs are easy and very safe-feeling; none of the narrow spirals I had imagined. The first level is much bigger than I'd expected, and we stroll around it, sit down, have a Paris pizza snack (pas mal!) and decide what to do next. Kathryn suggests dinner at La Fermette Marbeuf, and we take the lift down and the RER to Pont de l'Alma. We cross the Seine and head north towards Rue Marbeuf. The restaurant is absolutely stunning - I'm in Art Nouveau heaven. The service and food are great, too. The waitress sees my camera and volunteers to take our photo. From our sidewalk table, we can see the Tour Eiffel light up as the sky fades to deep blue. We walk up Rue Marbeuf to catch the Metro home, and find ourselves at one happenin' intersection. "What a fancy street!" I say, as we hurry down the steps to the train. And then I find out: that was the Champs Elyssees.

On to Day Nine