I hadn’t realized how excited Mark was to see the Eiffel Tower until a few days before the trip to Paris. It’s rare to see him show enthusiasm about something that doesn’t belong to “his world,” i.e. Fortnite, new movies, toys, going to the beach or the swimming pool, etc.
“Look, I promise you’ll see it. I don’t think we will go up, though.”
“I know that. It’s only in the movies.”
“No, you can actually take the stairs up to the second level but I don’t have the patience to wait in line for hours.”
“Me neither.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I meant.”
I picked up the guys at the hotel—Feng took a nap, Mark probably did not—I suggested starting our stay in Paris with one of the world’s most famous landmarks. We were rue de Vaugirard, close to Montparnasse, a twenty-minute walk from the Champ de Mars. Hell, even I was excited—the Eiffel Tower is impressive and unique when you see it up close.
We finally got to the Champ de Mars around 7 p.m., sweaty and tired—it wasn’t that long of a walk but we hadn’t slept in way too many hours by then.
“Can you see it?”
“Nooo…”
“Ah, sorry, it’s too late, then. It must have been taken down and put away for the night already.”
“What?”
“Well, yeah, it’s kind of in the way. So, much like you clean up your toys before going to bed, the Eiffel Tower is taken apart every day.”
“No way! You’re joking, right?”
Mark turned around.
“OMG IT’S HERE!”
Paris did change a bit, after all. It was a day after Bastille Day, so the area was a bit of a mess with bleachers being dismantled, but I also discovered the bottom of the tower was now surrounded by bulletproof glass walls. You used to be able to wander around—you still can and it’s free but you have to go through security and there’s a long lineup.
The following day, we came back to the Eiffel Tower around 11 p.m. to see it lit up.
This time, we arrived from the Trocadéro side and it was very crowded. “Warm Tuesday evening in July,” I shrugged. “Obviously, everybody had the same idea!”
Suddenly, Feng pointed to the moon glowing on the right side of the Eiffel Tower.
“Wait a minute… wasn’t it a full moon yesterday? Or close to?”
“Eh, you’re right! I remember we joked about it, I said something about French people not knowing when it’s a full moon because we don’t have a lunar calendar…”
“Maybe we dreamed it, we were exhausted. Because look—definitely not full now.”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t dream it! We clearly saw it! And… eh you’re right, it’s a half-moon now!”
We were completely puzzled and forgot about it until the following day.
“What the hell? It’s almost full moon again!”
This time, we Googled it—turned out there was a partial lunar eclipse on Tuesday, July 16, which is also probably why so many people showed up to see the Eiffel Tower that night!
Hello Juliette
Tu sais ce que je trouve extra dans vos voyages en famille ? C’est que vous faites l’essentiel de vos découvertes à pied ! Mark ne râle jamais ?
C’est tellement rare de nos jours des gens qui marchent et visitent les villes à pied !
Supers photos en tout cas !
Du coup vous n’êtes pas montés ? Tu sais que tu peux réserver ta visite avec des billets coupe-file pour attendre moins longtemps (en général 15-20 minutes de queue max) ? La vue du 2e étage vaut le coup.
Profitez bien de vos vacances à 3.
Mark râle TOUT LE TEMPS! 😆 En bon petit Canadien, il ne marche jamais. Impossible d’aller à l’école à pied, beaucoup trop loin, donc au Canada, ses trajets à pied sont limités ou inexistants. Il n’y a que lorsqu’on voyage qu’il marche. À Nantes, il a sa trottinette qu’il adore, donc il ne se fait pas prier du tout et on peut facilement faire deux ou trois heures de marche. Ailleurs, ça dépend. Juste avec moi il ne râle pas, mais quand on est tous les trois, il peut traîner la patte, car il sait que Feng est moins “marcheur” que moi.
Pour la Tour Eiffel, on a zappé cette année. C’était un choix, on a préféré les ballades aux attractions, principalement par manque de temps (et Feng et moi avons souvent fait les attractions).
My daughter really want to see this famous landmark. I hope I can take her there soon
I have to say it is an impressive landmark. Even as a cynical French I find it unique.
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