Hey guys,
So this is my last post for our Paris trip. I am going to be so sad to not be writing anymore about what we did. I do have a couple more posts that are related to Paris, London, and Ireland. I am not sure when they will be up because I have a lot to say in each of them and I want to make sure that they are excellent quality before I post them.
On our last day in
Paris, we basically spent the entire day at the Eiffel Tower. We took some
photos of it and then we got in line to purchase our tickets. I was told by
several people that during their busy season you can expect to wait in line at
least an hour. We went in June, which is one of their busiest months and I
would have to say that we only waited probably 30-40 minutes before we got on
the elevator.
The way the tickets
work, is you can buy a ticket that has lift access to all 3 floors or you buy a
cheaper ticket that only allows you access to the 2 floor. If I were to go on
it again I would say that I would only buy a ticket to the second floor but unfortunately
I can't say that because when we went the apartment that is located at the very
top was closed. I am not sure why but they recently refurbished and opened it
up for public viewing but on the day we went, we were unable to look inside. So
I would eventually like to be able to go back and check out what the apartment
looks like in real life rather than just looking at pictures on the Internet.
We selected the
ticket that takes you all the way to the top (obviously). So when you get to
the Eiffel Tower, you wait in line to purchase your ticket if you haven't
already purchased them online and then you get into another like to have your
bags searched and go through a metal detector. Once you get through that you
get into another line to wait for the elevator (aka lift). If you already
purchased your tickets you go through the same process minus the line to
purchase your tickets. Also the guests you have already purchased their tickets
get their own line (it's kind of like a Disney fast pass) but in my opinion it
wasn't really worth it. We got to the same floor at the same time as most of
the people that had already purchased their tickets online. Once you get on the
elevator, it takes you to the second floor.
The second floor is
full of different shops, restrooms, and a little cafe that offers a variety of
French food that you can munch on. By the time we made it to the second floor,
it was like 11:30 and we were kind of hungry because we had skipped breakfast
so we decided to grab some sandwiches from the cafe and a dessert each. The
sandwiches were kind of gross and I can’t remember what dessert I had but
it was kind of gross too (remember, I'm a picky eater!).
Next, we walked
around a little taking pictures from each of the four sides (north, south,
east, and west) of the tower. Each view was absolutely amazing and going to at
least the second floor of the Eiffel Tower is a definite must do in my opinion.
It is an experience you will not forget or regret!
Once we finished with
the second floor, we got in line for the elevator that takes you all the way to
the top. We stayed on the top for about 10-20 minutes. The top level is
actually split into two different levels and to get to the very top you have to
take a flight of stairs. The bottom level of the top is actually very cool
because it compares the height of the Eiffel Tower to other tall buildings
located throughout the world.
After we finished
with the top level, we headed back to the elevator and took it back down to the
second level again. From there we tried to figure out how to get down to the
first level. I think I we walked about half way around the entire tower looking
for the elevator before we finally just decided to take the stairs. We aren’t
really sure if this is your only option down but when we got downstairs there
was a line to take the lift to the second level and then there was another line
to take the lift down to the bottom again.
There were a lot of
stairs to climb and I am afraid of heights so honestly I tried to go as fast as
I could but I ended up getting way ahead of my mom and sister (this is very typical
of me haha) and they told me to slow down. So when that happened I tried to
avoid thinking about how high we were and just focused on the Eiffel Tower.
The first level was
by far my favorite! The design was absolutely fabulous and it was such a fun
space to hangout in. The second level consisted of another shop, a little café,
a restaurant, and a private meeting room that companies or others could rent
out. The reason this was my favorite level was because there was fake grassy
area with a little food stand in the middle. The grassy area had benches for
people to sit on, a couple fountains, and there were also some tables on the
edge that let you look out onto beautiful Paris.
P.S. I totally
recommend getting some ice cream from the food cart in the grassy area!
Once we were done
visiting the Eiffel Tower, (I had a really hard time leaving!) we headed back
to the Champs Elysees for some last minute souvenir shopping and we ended up
doing some shopping for clothes too! We ended up finding a gap and that’s when
I bought the shorts that were featured in this post.
Next, it was time for
dinner and we walked up and down the Champs trying to find something to eat. We
didn’t really want to spend too much money because we weren’t really that
hungry. However, we ended up coming up to Ladurée, which we’ve already been to
in NYC. At first, I was like we totally have to go to Ladurée but the longer we
were in Paris, I just didn’t really care about going since we’ve already been
to one before.
If you haven’t been
to a Ladurée before and you are visiting Paris then I definitely recommend
going! Macarons are absolutely amazing and they have so many unique flavors at Ladurée.
The one is Paris is the original one and
so they also have a restaurant and bar that they are famous for. My only
complaint is that when you get there, you basically get in line, and you really
should know exactly what you want because if one of the workers has to wait on
you she will do something else and ignore you for the longest time (yes, this
is what happened to us). You don’t really get to experience Ladurée or see what
it’s really like inside because the whole experience is very rushed.
After we purchased
our macarons, we ended up heading back to the McDonald’s because we already knew
what to get there and we figured it would probably be cheaper than most of the
other restaurant’s located on the Champs Elysees. Plus we already knew how to
long on to their Wi-Fi, which we hadn’t been on all day, and we hadn’t been
able to contact my dad the whole day. So we logged on and checked in with him
to let him that we were all right and what we did during the day.
In the evening we
went back to the Eiffel Tower one last time to watch it twinkle. We made it
just in time for the 10 pm twinkle and then we walked a little closer and went
down by the Seine which was slowly going back to normal at the time. We found a
spot by the water and stayed there until the 11 pm twinkle. Which it actually
did way more than twinkle at 11. Since the Euro games were going on at the
time, they put on a shower for the team that had one that day. I have included
some of the colors that Eiffel Tower changed that night and then when it
twinkled, it changed to the colors of the Wales flag, which was the team that
had won that day. I'm so glad that we had stayed to watch it again and I really
didn't want to leave!
When we got to Paris I told my mom and sister that rule #1 of the trip was that we had to see
the Eiffel Tower at least once a day. We ended up seeing it 5 out of the 6 days
that we were there but on some days we saw it twice. We unfortunately had to miss it on the 5th day because we
got back too late from Disneyland and we were just too tired. However, next
time I'm totally making it a rule that we see it at least twice a day, once
during the day and once in the evening to watch it twinkle. I’ve been obsessed
with the Eiffel Tower for such a long time but I never could have imagined how
magical the experience of watching it twinkle could have been.
I don't care how
scared you might be to be out late at night in Paris especially with everything
that has been going on in the world lately, seeing the Eiffel Tower twinkle is
something you should do no matter what!
Thanks for stopping
by!
Feel free to leave a
comment or share this with your friends!
XO, Steph
Let's go back!!
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