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| View of Eiffel at Night |
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| View of Eiffel Tower from Champ de Mars |
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| Eiffel's marble bust at the Tower |
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| View from the first floor |
Throughout our tour in Paris, two objects made their appearance wherever we traveled. The broad flowing Seine with ferries, and the tall Eiffel Tower with its typical latticed iron-grey girders and crisscross net work of trusses.Whenever we think of Paris, the picture of the Eiffel Tower and that of Notre Dame Cathedral flash before our eyes, an epitome of the city's historic and cultural glory. In Paris most of the worth-seeing monuments, palaces, gardens and churches are within the city's range. So we need not go long distance to see these lofty constructions. Our tour manager repeatedly warned us about the incidents of theft and cheating in the busy areas of Paris. Especially Romanian gypsies approach tourists with slips asking us to read their slips just to divert our attention and pick our pockets. The groups of street vendors following us and cajoling us to buy some souvenirs made us jittery as if we were going to be robbed . The long line of people near the ticket counter made us think that we had to wait for hours to get admission. But to our surprise our tour manager procured tickets within minutes using his clout and of course, his inborn talent of mixing with people.
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| View from the restaurant Jules Verne (2nd Platform) |
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| Top viewing platform at third level |
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| Bar on the third platform |
There are three platforms built on this tower. The first platform is 190 feet high above the ground, the second platform 376 feet, and the third one 900 feet above the ground level. The visitors are allowed to climb 300 steps to reach the first level only. We can also use the lift. The first lift took us up to the second level. From there we had to show the second ticket to allow us to get up to the topmost third level by another lift. At first sight in broad day light, this tower made of latticed iron, weighing about 1,000 tons, in dark brown color with so many rivets and bolts appeared just like a huge, rusty brown piece of smoke stack. But at night while going by that route, this dark brown grey-colored tower dazzled with multiple colors as if we beheld a heavenly tower where angels reside. Though this tower was built for scientific purpose, it became a rendezvous for married couples and lovers to feel elated with thrill of joy and shout with cheer as soon as they view this magnificent tower of Love, standing steadfast and touching the starry skies with effulgent spectrum of colors symbolizing Love, Hope and Joy. We could not but appreciate and admire this citadel of engineering skill which represents the ideals of Liberty, Innovative Spirit and Sacrifice. Above all it is a fascinating symbol of Love before which all lovers and couples express and pledge their deep-felt emotions of affection and intimacy.
On the first platform there are two shops, a restaurant called Le 58 Tour Eiffel and a Souvenir stall. The first platform is 190 feet above ground and visitors are allowed to climb 300 steps to reach up to this level. On the second platform which is about 376 feet high from ground level. there is another restaurant called Le Jules Verne and a gift shop. The third platform is 900 feet high with a provision for a banquet hall, a champagne bar and a gift shop. From this topmost level one can enjoy a panoramic view of Paris up to 42 miles if the sky is clear. The distant monuments and towers of cathedrals and palaces look like tiny models with thin lines of roads and spanning bridges intersecting the surrounding space. A telescope is fixed at the second level to get a clearer view of these distant monuments and towers.
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| The Mannequins of Gustav Eiffel and Thomas Edison in Eiffel's apartment (1889) |
At the third level there are various labs for conducting experiments on Meteorology and other scientific themes. Gustav Eiffel (1832-1923), the main founder of this gigantic project, had his private apartments here to conduct scientific experiments. He was the prime designer of the famous "Statue of Liberty "(1883) seen in New York. He invited the famous American scientist Thomas Alva Edison to his apartment on August 14, 1889. Edison gifted him one of his phonographs and complimented Eiffel as "the engineer, the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern engineering." The wax effigies of Eiffel with his daughter, Claire and Edison are seen in the apartment. We saw many couples clicking photos from such a height and enjoying the grand view of the conglomeration of the distant buildings and lofty spires. To them the Eiffel Tower does not seem to be just a vantage spot to conduct scientific experiments, but as the very romantic pinnacle of vibrant joy and love, a kind of Olympus, where gods make love to each other, with their crowns touching the silver stars. Some hugged each other or sat in amorous postures gazing into each other's eyes and smiling with a sense of beaming satisfaction as they are lucky enough to express their love from such a heavenly height.
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24th June, 2016 Somaseshu Gutala
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