It’s the morning of the day where I will do, most probably, one the most insane things of my entire life. You see I have a minor problem today. I am going up the Eiffel Tower and I am scared of heights!!! Normally you would not get me anywhere near a building like this but if you are going to fight your fear you have to look the devil in the eye. So I nibble at my breakfast and littlemissy looks on in that vague concern of a person that does not really understand what your problem is. Unlike another friend who when he discovered my problem laughed his head off. Although I am too nice to mention names Jamez aren’t I?
Ooops… Oh well!
The thing is though the Eiffel Tower is the must see thing in Paris! I had already seen it from the river on my boat trip the day before and it made me wince then just looking at it. But littlemissy and I had to go and have a closer look at it and we had decided that we were going to get there early so we could avoid all the queues. After all who was gonna be at the Eiffel Tower when it opened at 9.30am…
Actually quite a lot of people when littlemissy and I got there were quite large queues developing at a fast rate. The Eiffel Tower itself though was scaring the living crap out of me. As I looked up thoughts went through my head like “I want my mummy” and “No way in h*** am I going to the top”. It is quite possibly one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen. The Tower is a magnificent achievement built at the beginning of the twentieth century for the Paris World Fair (I think!!) and was only meant to stay up for a short period of time (about a year).
Just looking at it make you feel awed and a little bit smaller. In this slightly stunned state of mind littlemissy dragged me over to the North Tower so we could head up into the belly of the beast. My state of mind now having seen the immensity of Gustav Eiffel’s was torn between going up it a little bit and running away as fast as I could. I believed we could honestly go up to the first floor and have a wander around and I would be fine. However when it came for littlemissy to get our tickets she asked how far we go and I said to the top.
Huh! As my brain caught up with what my subconscious had just sneaked through. The TOP!!!! This was the point when I started feeling panicked. As the lift started to come down to pick up its next bunch of victims and I almost started running away screaming I felt a gentle squeeze of reassurance as littlemissy asked if I was sure about this. Some vestiges of male ego that I had not scoured away at sometime in the past resurfaced at that point and made me say “Yeah I will be fine”. But underneath that cool male bravado was a gibbering wreck.
It was then as I saw the lift to the second floor that I saw the true horror of my nightmare. Glass windows! Glass Windows!! Oh my God I am so dead!! It was at this point that fear really struck me for the first time. Thankfully littlemissy noticed my wild-eyed look and gave me another squeeze and I spent the rest of the journey up to the second floor holding onto her for dear life. Once out of the lift though I felt safe for some strange reason. The ground felt nice and solid underneath me after the lift journey. But we had to head upstairs to the next set of lifts if we wanted to go to the top. Which we proceeded to do but, only after grabbing a couple of seconds to calm myself.
Another queue was facing us when we went up to the next landing. It was the lunatics who were going to the top of this building. But thankfully I would have time to calm down a bit before we went UP! So we waited and I calmed and looked around becoming even more impressed as I looked around at Monsieur Eiffel’s masterpiece. For a structure that is essentially a massive pile of steel girders it does look really good. But then the queue moved and we were heading into another lift and guess what this one had windows as well!!!
In all honesty I do not know how I ended up in that lift the view was magnificent and terrifying at the same time. As the lift went up all that went through my mind was, can I go down now. It was quite possibly the longest lift ride of my life and I was seriously wishing that I had a blindfold so I could not see the ground. At last we reached the pinnacle of the Eiffel Tower and with solid ground underneath me (or the illusion of solid ground) I felt better and the view I had from there was truly magnificent. The top of the Eiffel Tower is split into two sections the lift area is essentially an observation room with display panels placed around the room pointing out all the landmarks for you. It is a nice secure area where you get to see how beautiful a city Paris is from this height. There is also one other clever aspect to this part of the tower you cannot look down because the windows are recessed by about seven or eight inches to stop this. As you may understand this made me feel nice safe and secure. But there was still upstairs to go to and I like a fool feeling a little better agreed when littlemissy wanted to go upstairs.
This could be quite possibly be one of the worst mistakes of my entire life. The one thing I did not feel when I got up here was safe. You see this part of the Eiffel Tower is open to the world. The wind blows and all there is between you and falling is a wire grill. For the first few minutes I felt safe but then I (very foolishly) decided to get a look at the ground and the ants and matchbox vehicles below made me decide at that point to run away. So I darted back into the enclosed observation area until littlemissy was finished with her viewing. I can say that if you want to conquer a fear of heights the Eiffel Tower is not the place to do it boys and girls.
Once littlemissy returned we headed back down (I faced away from the windows this time) to the second floor (I felt much safer here I can tell you) and made use of the facilities available (Gift Shops and toilets.). Once I had recovered the mental strength to get myself to the ground we headed for the lift and bypassed the first floor entirely, as I just wanted out of the madhouse. Safely on the ground at last and vaguely distracted by the sound of the bagpipes playing in the background (I am not joking). I decided that the experience had been well worth it but somehow I do not think you would ever get me to go up the Eiffel Tower again. So to conquer my fear I think I am gonna have to try parachuting at some point.
General Information On the facility front the Eiffel Tower is quite good, Toilets and the small souvenir shops are modern and very clean. From what I saw on the disabled access front though it is let down a little. As far as I can work it out there is no way a disabled person can get to the top of the Tower. You see the second floor is split into two floors and the upper level of it is where you get the lift to the observation tower. To get to those lifts you have to climb a small flight of stairs. So wheelchair bound persons are unable to access them.
The first floor which littlemissy and I did not go to because of my cowardice at the time apparently has more shops and at least one restaurant which you can visit. But apparently it is one of the most expensive and exclusive restaurants in Paris. So if you wish to visit it make sure you have the money to afford it.
The Eiffel Tower is open from 0930 to 2300 but I would say the best time to go is at the start of the day. When littlemissy and I got there was only a small queue. However when we left I would say there were nearly a thousand people waiting to go up and that was just over an hour later. Imagine how long it would take to go up with all those people in front of you. To finish up the Eiffel Tower is a must see venue in Paris even if you don’t go up.
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