Gregory's French Travel Blog - Americans in France


	Jeff Steiner's Americans in France. Resource for people that would like to live or travel in France.

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Blogs About FranceGregory's French Travel Blog

This is a guest travelblog by a first time visitor to France. Read about Gregory's adventures as they happen!

Our Aborted Visit to The Eiffel Tower - Sunday, September 11, 2005

While reviewing the photos we took in France, I was reminded of our visit to the Eiffel Tower. We had arrived at the park around 10:00 am, and I took the elevator up to the second level while Paula and Skylar climbed the stairs. Paula urged me to "get some exercise," but I was stubbornly protecting my sore ankle from the abuse of stair-climbing.

We discovered that standing in line for the elevator got me to the upper level in about the same amount of time it takes to climb the stairs. We found each other and spent about an hour looking in all directions across Paris, and taking pictures to help us remember how it looks. Someone related a story concerning a past incident in which some swindler sold someone the rights to salvage the metal from the tower, claiming that it was to be dismantled. I identified languages from at least 10 different countries, and bought some interesting gifts for friends in Minnesota.

The most interesting gift I bought was a cigarette lighter for our neighbors across the street, who were taking care of our pet rabbit while we were in France. It is a butane lighter with a little copper bead suspended in the flame on wires. When the flame is struck, it is four-sided with a point at the top, and it turns green - resembling the tower! Deb (our neighbor) was amazed!

The tower visit ended abruptly when the police began ordering everyone off the tower and out of the park - no questions answered, just leave! They forced me out one end of the park because I took the elevator, while forcing Paula and Skylar out the other end because they took the stairs, separating us fairly permanently. I was too sore to walk the mile it would have taken to get to where I suspected they had gone, with no guarantee of finding them. I caught a subway back to the hotel where I waited for Paula to call.

We never did discover why they had to empty the tower and the park that day. There was no mention of it on the news that night. We could only guess that it had something to do with a bomb threat, and I guess the French do not bother reporting on such things in the news. After all - no bomb exploded. It served to underscore the importance of having a backup plan in case you get separated from the rest of your party. Our plan, which was to return to the hotel, served to get us back together in time for a nice dinner in the Latin Quarter. Another plan that might work better would be to have two working cell phones, instead of just one.

Revitalizing The Blog - Sunday, September 11, 2005

The 2.50 GBP Bus Tour - Tuesday, July 27, 2004

A Day of Art and Sun - Sunday, July 25, 2004