David's Diary: Monday, July 23, 2001

A Paris Tour

Yesterday, we mostly stayed at home, but we did go out for a nice Sunday lunch in the forest near where we are staying. We got to bed early so that we could get up early, go into Paris, and finally see the Eiffel Tower. Paris' best known landmark was constructed for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World Fair). Many people of the day thought the tower a blight on the Parisian landscape with over 300 writers and artists signing a petition protesting the tower. The tower was saved because by 1909 it had become a critical radio tower. Later, the tower was used for TV broadcasts.

Inside The Tower

The tower rises 984 feet (300m) with three separate platforms. We decided to forgo the elevator to the first and second platform and climb the stairs instead. As we climbed the 670 steps, we were treated to an inside view of the tower. We could see some of the 2.5 million rivets that three hundred sky jacks used to put the tower together between 1887 and 1889.

View From The Tower

As you climb up more and more of Paris is spread below you. Even by the first level those a little uncomfortable of heights, such as Kevin, find that they don't want to get that close to the edge. After climbing to the second platform, we then queued to take the elevator to the third level. While Kevin and Karalee stayed inside, Jocelyn, Allen, and I climbed one more set of stairs and went outside where we seemed to be balanced in the sky.

By the time we had descended by elevator to the second platform and then from there by stairs to the ground, we were ready for lunch. We walked through the grassy "Field of Mars" which was originally the parade ground for the cadets of the École Militaire (the large building at the south-eastern end of the park). We found a pleasant street-side cafe to have lunch. After lunch we returned to the tower, crossed underneath, went over the Seine to the Trocadéro Gardens. The spectacular fountains and the curved colonnaded wings of the Palais de Chaillot make an excellent backdrop to the Eiffel Tower.

Arc du Triomphe

From the Trocadéro Gardens we walked along Av Kléber to Arc du Triomphe. Napoléon's victories are commemorated here along with the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. At the center of Place Charles-de-Gaulle, there are twelve streets that radiate outwards. The most famous of these is the Champs-Élysées, which we walked after examining the Arc du Triomphe.

We walked past the numerous stores that line the Champs-Élysées, seeing many of the international brand names that we would see in a mall in Vancouver. Walking the wide boulevard, with its mixture of tourists and locals, is one of those experiences that you have to do on your first trip to Paris. We continued past Rond Point des Champs-Élysées and continued to Place de la Concorde. Louis XVI made this spot famous by having his head lopped off by a guillotine in 1793. During the next two years, another guillotine nearby was used to behead some 1,343 more people, including Marie-Antoinette.

We left the grisly visions of the past to visit WH Smith books, where we left with another load of English books. We're not certain how we're going to fit everything into the van, let alone into the boat when it is ready. By the time we took the train home it was past 9:00 PM, so we stopped at the pizza restaurant across from the train station in St. Rémy-lès-Chevreuse and had dinner. It was a tired family that finally made it home short after 10:00 PM, more than thirteen hours after we had left in the morning. Today, we really saw Paris.