The Eiffel Tower

   I didn't forget to mention the Eiffel Tower in 5 things, I really just didn't have the space to say everything that I wanted to say. I figured I would save this tourist attraction for last, since it was probably the most touristy and uninteresting thing that I did. 
   When I got off the bus (it took me into Paris proper from the Beauvais airport), I went to go meet my tour guide and gracious host, Rob at his university, which was conveniently only a few blocks away from the Eiffel tower. While waiting for him to finish work, I went to check out Paris's iconic statement to the world, and what used to be the world's tallest structure until the Empire State building took it's title.
  Now, the Eiffel tower is on the shorter side of the world's tallest structures, with the Burj in Dubai literally towering over the Eiffel tower, but it is still incredible to say the least. Once you add the fact that it was built in 1891, and see it for yourself, you can't help but be slightly impressed. 

Naturally, I wanted to go up to the top. Isn't that the point of a tower anyway? But there was a massive line for the elevator that wrapped around the tower and might have ended somewhere in the Sein river a few blocks away. 

After waiting in lines for my Visa, planes, and museums, I said "no," and looked for another option. I decided to pay a little bit less and avoid the line by taking the stairs. Little did I know that I was about to embark upon the Parisian version of quad-burning mayhem and a marathon-like test of cardiovascular endurance. So, I plugged in my headphones and played the following song. 

Needless to say, with Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," blasting into my ear drums, the first 347 steps to the first observation level went relatively quickly. Out of breath, I got to look at the poor bastards waiting in that never-ending, soul-destroying line. So, like a Parisian, I second-hand smoked a few cigarettes, relaxed, and people-watched before making my way from base camp into the more difficult level, observation deck two, where few dare to go.

   No song could prepare me for the next set of stairs. While 347 stairs separate the earth from the first observation deck, 674 steps separate the first observation deck from the second. So, with my quads threatening to give out, and my calves wishing I waited in line, I took off my jacket and started the ascent.

   Somewhere around stair 230-240, the air began to thin, and the altitude started to make me see things. This is a picture of Andres, my sherpa and guide up the tower. I'm still not sure why he kept running away when I tried to ask him for oxygen, isn't that his job?

   In my time here in Europe, I've seen some pretty alright views. This was one of them. Because it was so alright, I decided to stay at the second observation deck. And by decide, I mean that any more stairs would have made me go into cardiac arrest. But, I realized that I might never get the chance to come back to this tower of leg-muscle-inferno, so I got in line to go to the top. Luckily, there was only an elevator to the very top, no more stairs.

   After waiting in line for 15 minutes, I realized that I was in the line for the 'down' elevator. All that work, nearly flushed down the drain. Like I said, the altitude, lack of oxygen, and onset cardiac arrest was doing funny things to my brain. So, I stumbled over to the right elevator, and payed my 5 euro to summit this steel beast.

It's really tall. And upon looking out at the city of Paris, from the top of the eiffel tower, I had yet another epiphany. This song, "Midnight City" by M83 came on, and well, it set the mood for the epiphany.

   Now, there were about 50 people at the top of the Eiffel tower when I got there. Out of those 50 people, I heard somewhere in between 10-15 different languages. Growing up, and in Spain, the most I have ever heard at one time was three, maybe four, which included Spanish, Chinese, English, and maybe Farsi, usually at a Panda Express or Costco. But at the top of that tower, I was awestruck and simply dumbfounded at the amount of languages that I heard, and that these were people from all over the world that had come to see the same tower that I had seen in movies and learned about as a child. Have you ever heard a Portuguese man tell his 9 year old son what the Sein river is? Have you ever seen a Russian couple take a picture for a Korean family without having to say any words? Well, on the top of that tower, I saw just that. It made me realize that this incredible French creation, was something that everyone and anyone could appreciate. You don't need words, or language to appreciate it, just eyes and an open mind. It wasn't just a French creation for French people, but a human creation, for humanity. And even though we fight, disagree, compete and threaten to blow each-other up, we are still human at the very least. On top of that tower, I saw my fellow humans appreciating humanity, and dammit, that was beautiful. There was no competition at the top, no bomb threats as far as I knew, and no racism, or shred of 'cultural superiority.' It was simply a handful of people, from a bunch of different backgrounds, appreciating something form a different culture, thousands of miles away from their respective homes. Like a child upon completing their first macaroni necklace, France says, "Hey guys, look what I made," and we said admiringly, "good job France, good job." This mutual appreciation for culture and people has drifted away in recent years, with the global economic recession, nuclear weapons, war, and ethnic tension among other things sucking the life and enjoyment out of the world. Call me an optimist, or naive, but I'd like to think that it's not too late to bring back this cultural appreciation.  After all, I went from hating the very thought of crepes to slightly enjoying the funny little french pancake in a few hours, so how hard could it be?


Word of the Day: Torre - Tower
El Torre Eiffel tiene una gran vista de Paris. The Eiffel tower has a great view of Paris.