The Eiffel Tower

We finally made it to the Eiffel Tower. It was one of the key stops we had to make before leaving tomorrow.   We almost didn't make it either since it was so late at night.  How to avoid all the tourists and the long lines?  Plus the fact that it's been raining off and on all week.   Sunday night, I asked Asia if she still wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and she assured me adamantly.  So at 9:30 PM, off we went to catch the train to the Eiffel Tower. 

The great thing was that the line to take the STEPS up the tower was pretty short.  There was a little bit of a wait to get in. I think they only let so many people in at a time. Very smart crowd control.  Lots of tourists and loud young Americans around us.

The two pictures above are from on the way to the Eiffel Tower, crossing the river.

Here we are on our climb up.  Note to self - take the elevator up and take the stairs down.  I wasn't sure I was going to make it after stair 400.  Only 300 more to go.

The Eiffel tower is split into 3 sections. You climb to floor 1 and get a great view. There's a little cafe where we bought 2 bottles of water.  Took some videos.  And then on to the next floor.  Here's a view down.

Look at all the little ants!

Well we made it to the second floor. We didn't pay to take the elevator to the summit but it's actually a great view from the second floor and very high up.  There was a little of a mist going on but not too windy. 

By the time we made it to the second floor, it was already midnight!  We were a little worried about the trains closing - last train was supposed to be 12:45 am, so we had to rush down.  Asia was a little upset because she was hungry and hoping we could stop to get a snack at the cafe on the 1st floor. 

The main thing is we can now say we did the Eiffel Tower.  The first trip, we walked under it and didn't go up it because the lines were way too long. Now we've done it!  And I don't think anyone was too sore afterwards. What a workout.