THE EIFFEL TOWER AS I SAW IT !!!

The Eiffel Tower is located on the Champ de Mars in Paris named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most visited paid monument in the world, 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011.

The day that we visited, the wait in line to take the elevator to the top was four hours. We really enjoyed the view from the park where the tower stands. The tower is easily one of the most photographed structures in the world. After I took the obligatory post card shot documenting that we had visited, I decided to look at it in a little different way. I continued that thought later in post production.

These are only the images we took during the day. I will post some images we took at night at a later date. When we climbed out of the bus this was my first view of the tower. At 1,050 feet tall, about the same height as a 81 story building, it is one amazing sight as it towers high above the trees and buildings in the area!!

 This is a bust of Gustav Eiffel, the engineer who built the tower. 

The tower is in a park-like setting and there were many, many people visiting the tower that day. There was some work being done on the tower that day and you can see some of the temporary supports in this image. Those people are in line for the elevators and that is only a small section of the line.

It was a beautiful day with blue skies and the park setting is  landscaped and kept very clean.

The lattice work is really wonderful to see up close. It's really an amazing combination of engineering and design. The names you can see in this image were engraved by Gustave Eiffel. There are seventy-two names of French scientists, engineers and other notable people. The engravings were painted over at the beginning of the twentieth century but restored in 1986-1987.

The tower has three levels for visitors including two restaurants. You can see one in the image below.

To stand directly below the tower and look up is the view that visually impressed me the most. The angle of view is awe inspiring to say the least!!

This carousel was located across the street from the tower and when I saw it, I wanted to include it in my images!!!

It seems no matter what country you visit, there are always reminders of the threat of terrorism that exist! He was just one of the solders we saw guarding the tower.

I do not want to end this post on that note. Let me leave you with   images showing the true beauty of the tower, including a few through my imagination.