In honor of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tower during the 1889 Exposition Universelle. Legend has it that the inspiration for the tower was “The Washington Monument” and “The Exposition Universelle”. Digging for the construction of the Eiffel Tower began in January 1887, and the tower was completed swiftly. It took only 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days to finish this impressive attraction, which was officially opened on March 31st, 1889. I HAD to see it. So 134 years later I laid eyes on the Eiffel Tower.
From the Palace of Versailles, we took a long taxi ride to the Eiffel Tower. As we approached the tower on foot, I noticed something. The giant hunk of iron was falling apart! Pieces of the building were being caught in nets that covered the whole base of the Tower. In 1910, the Eiffel Tower was supposed to be taken down, but people say it wasn’t because it was used as a radio antenna.
The Jardin de la Effiel Tower is an ideal spot to admire the tower while enjoying the beauty of a sunset and the company of pigeons. We spent hours in the park, enjoying a picnic and waiting for the magnificent Effiel Tower light show. It was so cold that even my dad, who usually doesn't feel it, was shivering. At 9:45, as the sun began to set, my mom treated us to some delicious Parisian Le Chocolat Chaud, a hot chocolate drink made with real shaved chocolate.
As le chocolat Chaud warmed us up the lights on the Eiffel Tower finally turned on! Everyone cheered, but then quickly realized it wasn’t the sparkling show. So we waited until 10:05 pm before the sparkling light show began. It was beautiful and magical, but was it worst the 3 hours wait? I suppose you will have to visit to find out!
As we commemorated the Effiel Tower, this nice man from Senegal stopped to if we wanted to buy a miniature light-up mini tower. I practiced my bargaining skills and said yes! In almost every country, you can bargain with street vendors.
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