The iconic symbol of Paris is a 324m iron tower that withstood the pressures of time and tide since 1889- not bad at all! We first visited this famous monument on the evening we landed in Paris. Well, our landing in Paris was quite eventful, with us missing our luggage and waiting for 3 hours at the bus stop to retrieve it, followed by the hotel having some problem with not finding our reservation for a while and all....After the day's fiasco, we thought a quiet visit to the Eiffel tower will cool off some heat...But it looked like Paris was not in a mood at all to greet us that day. The tower was closed to visitors that evening due to some bomb scare!!! Well, even though we were not allowed inside, a potential bomb did not deter visitors like us, to stand in front of the tower and shoot themselves away (with the camera, of course)...The tower was filled with lighting and it looked as pretty as an Indian bride all decked up for her wedding...:)

Different views of La Tour Eiffel in the evening

And the view in the morning!!

Our next visit was in the morning. The lights were obviously not on during the day. But without the lights and decoration, the tower looked different, a bit plain, if I may say. But it also allowed us to acknowledge this massive structure in its true form, and appreciate the architect's sense of art and science. We had to stand in a long queue for about half an hour to get the entrance tickets. There were 2 queues- 1 for those for wished to climb the stairs till the 2nd floor and another for those who wished to use the lift, till the 2nd floor or till the top, as one wished. There are about 1665 steps till the top of the tower, though visitors can use the stairs only upto the 2nd floor after which they need to use the lift. We paid 8.50 Euros per ticket and took the lift till the 2nd floor, since the lady at the counter informed us the lifts to the top were under maintenance. The famous Le Jules Verne restaurant is situated on this floor but we heard it is quite expensive, so we didn't bother eating here. We spend some time looking around, clicking beautiful snaps and trying to identify other buildings from where we stood.

Panoramic View from the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower

After taking in the view from about 115m above ground (the air, for one, definitely felt cleaner), and once the lifts to the top, began functioning, we bought tickets to the top (cost us another 6 Euros per ticket). The view from the top floor was simply spectacular. I have this horrible fear of height, so I was a bit skeptical about whether I would enjoy the view from the very top. Thankfully, the top most floor was enclosed, so I was not too scared and we could enjoy what it felt to be on top of the tallest structure in the city. There was a comparative display of other tall buildings around the globe. There also was a champagne bar on top that we skipped as I was dizzy anyways so why the fizz. S felt a glass floor could have been a worthy addition to an otherwise great experience, but no complaints from me on that one. The view from the top is worth a watch and I felt on top of the world or atleast the city!