Spotting the Tower

Looking for this symbol of Paris is like spotting for a mountain peak. Staying at Val D’ Europe, about 30 kilometers from the City and 3 kilometers from Disneyland, it took a while to design a plan on how to view its splendor in this non English speaking country.

1st learn to buy the right ticket to access the Paris transport system via the automated machine. 2nd is familiarizing yourself with how to use it. Lastly and most importantly, navigating the main train, the 7 Metro lines and the bus routes.

As this is all done underground, the excitement of stepping out on the ground the 1st time in Paris is a thrill in itself. It took me 1 main train to the central station Charles de Gaulle Etolle exposing me to the labyrinth leading to several levels of tunnels. The French speaking info desk instructed to me transfer to the Yellow Line 1 headed for La Defense to get off after 2 spots then transfer to the Green Line 6 headed for Nation and ascend to Trocadero sortie (exit).

Like a groundhog that saw the soil of the city, I looked at the piazza with wonder. “Where it the Eiffel? Asking a postcard vendor “Pardon! Ou Eiffel?” The Frenchman said cross the street, turn right and look around.

Following the instruction trustingly, I was awed by the sight of the 1889 wonder saying, finally, decades after birth, 75 minutes and 13.99 Euros and kilometers of walking, I saw the 320.7 meter, 7,000 tons, 1,652 steps symbol of the French revolution. The feeling was as grand as stepping on the mountain peak of difficult climbs.

Vive la France! Merci Boucoup. In my language I said, “Salamat, wagi!”



Temperature range 13 to 23 C