Up the Eiffel Tower
After the workshop on my final evening in Paris, Jeff Fattic and I took a stroll around some of the sights near the Microsoft office on Rue de L’Universite. First we dropped in at O’Brien’s, our favorite Irish pub in Paris, and downed a bit of Blanche de Bruge. Then it was off to the Eiffel Tower for a trip to the top.
The line was a fraction the length it was on Sunday, but it still took an hour or so from getting in line to standing on the top level. You take an elevator up to the second level and then change elevators, so we had a chance to look around and take some pictures there first, while it was still daylight. It was dark by the time we got to the top, and the air was clear enough to give us some nice views.
I had intended to get some great night shots of the Eiffel Tower, but nature conspired against me. We returned to ground level and walked across the Seine, and then it started raining. So I rushed a couple of shots because I didn’t want to get my camera wet. I’ll be back to Paris in a couple of months, so I’ll bring the big tripod and try to get some good illegal night shots then — now that I know they’re illegal, I can’t wait to put a bunch of them on my site. (Editor’s note: Doug’s opinions on international intellectual property law are entirely his own, and do not reflect the views of his employer. :-))
We also walked over to the Champ Elysees and wandered around a bit. Then we ate dinner at a restaurant named Hippopotamus down a side street, which looked like the TGI Friday’s of France, both in terms of the decor and the menu. A few hours later, I took an early-morning cab to Charles DeGaulle Airport, and now I’m on the way home. See you in a few hours, Megan!
This entry was posted on Friday, October 6th, 2006 at 8:25 am. You can subscribe to comments on this post through its RSS feed.
on October 6, 2006 at 6:46 pm nick wrote:
Got to say cool pics as the norm. and again about the man hours,broken bones and all that happened. for I think a radio tower? I like the gut shots. what’s the fencing at the top makes it a bit hard for a BASE jumper ?and who’s the bald guy in a lot of your pics,he must follow you around alot…he he and hugs
on October 7, 2006 at 6:31 am Doug wrote:
Yeah Nick, I felt the same way looking at it: a much bigger, messier, more complicated structure than I ever realized. And those elevators, all on cables with huge pulleys all over the place — very cool to see in action.
One thing I forgot to mention was the light show they do on the tower. Sometimes its just lit with those orange-yellow lights, like in this picture or this closeup.
But they also do a strobelight thing (that’s pretty obnoxious from inside the tower) that really lights things up much brighter. It happened for a while when we were on the top deck, but I didn’t realize what it looked like from the ground until we saw it from afar on the way to Champs Elysees. The strobes flash constantly all up and down the tower, and apparently that is the image they don’t want people publishing. Yeah, right. I’ll be back in December with the big tripod, he he.
The big bald guy in those pictures is feeling pretty good after a long night’s sleep in his own bed. It was an interesting trip, but today’s one of those days I really appreciate being home.