Eiffel Tower (Parish)
You might think that the Eiffel Tower’s popularity makes it a “touristy” attraction, but it really is not. To me the word touristy implies something that lacks authenticity, is tacky and surrounded by people selling cheap junk. The Eiffel Tower is not like that at all.
First of all, it was built by a prominent French architect and engineer in celebration of an important time in France’s history- that’s keeping things pretty authentic. It is not surrounded by hordes of vendors trying to sell you souvenirs and the increased police presence since I was last there in 1998, meant that we didn’t see any obvious scam artists either.
Sure, it may be tempting to turn your nose up and think, “Look at all those silly tourists. Standing in line forever, taking the same picture that’s been taken thousands of times.” The bottom line is, certain sites are popular for a reason. There are some places, as cliché as it sounds, that are “must sees” when visiting a city. The Eiffel Tower is one of them.
Yes, the crowds can be horrendous at the Eiffel Tower and chances are you’ll be waiting in line to go up for quite a while. There might be impatient people who will try and cut in front of you, acting as if waiting another 30 seconds might mean the tower could spontaneously burst into a cloud of smoke and disappear forever (yes rude lady, I am talking about you!)
All that aside, we loved our visit to the Eiffel Tower! It’s an amazing structure that’s beautiful to look at night and day, near and far. Even though this was my second time seeing the tower, it still took my breath away when it first came into view. In fact, the first batch of photos I took of it are blurry because I was shaking from excitement!
Touristy or not, a visit to Paris would not be complete without feasting your eyes on the world’s most recognized structure.
