“It has a world renown; it is the triumph of steel-work; its unquestionable use for the transmission of wireless telegrams and the usefulness of this high monument as an observation station during the war, has consecrated its glory” (p. 12, “First Day Afternoon”).
While Guilmin has used no shortage of flowery language and magical descriptions of other sites in this book, for the Eiffel Tower, its accolades are downright utilitarian. Maybe that’s because of its tough, monochromatic facade; or maybe, more likely, it’s because, even in 1940 the Eiffel Tower required no introduction.
It was a running joke at the beginning of the trip that, until we had officially seen the Eiffel Tower, we weren’t really in Paris. Every time we saw a speck of the tower in the distance that first week, far behind the trees, we’d laugh and say, “hey, look at that! We’re in Paris!”
Because the Eiffel Tower has been so saturated in all media portraying France, I definitely had the preconceived notion that it was this sort of omnipresent backdrop to every setting, viewable from all angles and standing out like a North Star to guide its viewer around the city’s maze of streets.* Obviously I am far too trusting of what I see on TV because this was super far from the truth, as evidenced by our struggle on Bastille Day to get literally anywhere that we could see the Eiffel Tower from afar.
If you had asked me on the first few days of this trip, I would have argued that Guilmin was correct to schedule the visit to the Eiffel Tower on day one because I was so anxious to get there, see it, get it over with, get the picture. Now, however, I’m massively grateful that I had context besides what I’ve seen in movies before having that experience. Even so, I think that I am siding with Guilmin and will opt for a practical description of the view from the Eiffel Tower to say that the most breathtaking part of being up that high with such a dynamic 360 degree outlook is the view that it gives its guests of Paris’ mechanics and just how intricately the city works together. After walking around Paris for a week at that point, I was surprised how much of my explorations I could identify from the observation deck, how close the miles seemed from that distance.
TL;DR: The Eiffel Tower is pretty cool but definitely NOT seen all across Paris, unless of course you’re talking about the metal statues that people walk around selling on the world’s biggest key ring.
**Okay not a MAZE, but definitely confusing for my directionally-challenged-self.
Being up on the Eiffel Tower really did make everything look so close together. And it IS, kind of! It’s all just so DENSE that stuff that would take up 5 miles in the U.S. is packed into 1 (mathematical and proven and not at all a guess).
Chloe, you bring up such good points! Before coming to Paris I felt like the Eiffel was going to be the cherry on top of the whole month. In reality, I found the area around the Eiffel overrated. The metro stop was congested no matter the day of the week and still a GOOD walk from the tower. Everything around was overpriced and don’t get me started on the key rings! I am also glad we didn’t go up as soon as we got here, because being able to point out the other landmarks we had been to helped put the city in perspective (still directionally challenged, but a different perspective). I’m sorry y’alls spot on Bastille day didn’t workout, I had seen the corner of some fireworks a couple days before with my mom and aunt, still not a great view even though we were right in front of the tower. Seeing it twinkle at night felt special, as well as seeing it from the top, but in both scenarios you have to brave the crowds. Glad I can say i’ve done it, but definitely not something I need to do again for a very long time. Harry kept saying he wanted to at least see the Eiffel before he left, we never got to it because he also wanted to avoid the masses of people. You really can’t do both!