The Eiffel Tower at Night

Last month I visited the Eiffel Tower with my Mom and Dad along with others from our tour.  This was my third time visiting the tower, but my first time at night.  I don't know how many times my Mom has visited the Eiffel Tower.  This was my Dad's first time visiting both the Eiffel Tower and Paris.

That morning we left Strasbourg with our tour for the long ride to Paris.

We got there sometime between 4-5 pm, and after settling into the hotel, my Mom, Dad, and I, along with two others from our tour, navigated the metro to the Eiffel Tower.  First off, there is now a glass like panel that runs around the base of the tower to help with security.  This is new and wasn't there back in 2016; A couple years ago when my Mom and I visited, just after the terror attacks, the security was very make shift.  Now security is tight.  Also, the lines are long!  I don't know if this is an end of season thing, but April 2016 we didn't have to wait long to go up the Eiffel Tower.  The line this time was about 1 1/2 hours, or so.

By the time we got our tickets it was night.

We all decided to go to the very top, so this wasn't just my first time visiting at night, but also my first time being at the very top.  The last two times my Mom, Patou, and I visited the second level.

 My parents.

 It was very windy at the top.

 But the views were amazing.

 Open air, but not too crowded.

 Afterwards we found a cafe on the way back to the metro.

 My Dad asked for a really large glass of soda and ended up with this.

We were all quite surprised.

 Dinner took a long time, the French way, but it was nice.

I had salmon.  And we all got crepes for dessert.  So yummy.

 "Vous êtes ici."

You are here.

When we were on the Eiffel Tower the lights started doing that sparkling, flicker thing.  It's quite the experience, flashes everywhere.

I wanted to see this from the ground, but didn't know when it happens.

Turns out every night at 8pm, 9pm, and 10pm, (not sure about 11pm), the Eiffel Tower sparkles for five minutes on the hour.

Our hotel has a good view of the Eiffel Tower from the top floor.  On our last night in the city, a group of us decided to gather around 8:00pm to watch.  I was five minutes early and was the only one there!  But a couple minutes later it seemed everyone came up the elevators at once, including my parents.  The balcony was closed, but a hotel employee let us outside to watch.  Even though the Eiffel Tower was far away, it was nice show.

A wonderful way to spend our last night in Paris.