On top of Paris

You would think after a long day at Musee d'Orsay and the modern art museum we would be done for the day.  After chilling in our air conditioned apartment and snacking on some fries from the downstairs street vendors we decided that it would be a good evening to visit the Eiffel tower.  We had tried to pre purchase the tickets earlier in the week but the first available spots were in September.  So we thought maybe the crowds would be lighter around dinner time so we got on the Metro and headed to the tower.

There were three lines when we arrived at the tower, the shortest line was for those willing to climb the stairs to the first viewing deck with the option to ride the elevator from that deck to the top. The other two lines were for riding the elevators all the way to the top. Tired from the stairs at Notre Dame and the Arc we decided to wait in the longer lines. 

The wait was under an hour to purchase the tickets then another 30 minutes for the elevator.  I thought we were going straight to the top when we got on the elevator but this first elevator took us only to the lower viewing level where we had to wait another 30 minutes for the elevators to the top.

At the top there was another set of stairs to take you to the outdoor viewing deck.  Once outside it was pretty crowded as you were limited to the outer perimeter of the tower. There was a vendor selling plastic glasses of Champagne,  I guess you are supposed to toast your efforts for enduring the lines and making it to the top.  We eventually worked our way to the east side for the night views of the Louvre and Notre Dame and stayed at the top for 45 minutes.

We started back down at 11pm. It's not that easy to get down as you wait again for the elevators at the two levels.  At the top there were two lines for the elevators.  The line we initially we tried to get on wound around 3/4 way around the tower.  We discovered this as we started at the front of the line and worked our way back.  The funny thing is that the second line wound only 1/4 way around the tower so that both lines started at the same place.  For some reason the all the people in front of us werr getting into the longer line.  We took the shorter line and saved at least another 30 minutes getting down. 

By the time we walked back to the Metro and the rode to our apartment it was after midnight.  There were still a lot of passengers on the Metro but I was surprised that almost all the cafes in our neighborhood were already closed.  Fortunately one of the creperies and a gyro shop were still open so we could get snacks to satisfy everyone in our group before bed.