Eiffel Tower......anyone been up in recent times?

[gavroche]

Maybe Blackpool tower as that’s quite short

I like my feet firmly on the ground as I have no head for heights.

 

[DRM]

I like my feet firmly on the ground as I have no head for heights.

It’s not heights you should be scared of, it’s the floor that does the damage

 

[Rezillo]

About the same year for us.....we may have been a couple of years later.
Nearby is the Montparnasse Tower which was/is the tallest "building" in Paris. That was free to go to the top and that was by a super high speed lift, a great experience.

While the Eiffel Tower is an experience not to be missed, it is packed out and difficult to take pictures from without resorting to aggressive barging - not something that seemed to hold anyone else back. Plus when we visited it many years ago, wire mesh fencing rather spoiled the view.

If you've 'done' the Eiffel Tower then the Montparnassse tower, which we went to seven years ago after a Mumsnet recommendation, is an entirely different experience. No queues, we just walked in and paid. As Dave7 says, a high speed lift straight to the top, with a decent cafe just below roof level. The entire roof area is a flat platform surrounded with large glass sheets. Running along the glass screen is a continuous air gap for photography.

The views are stunninng and there are no crowds - we were there on a sunny day and there were no more than twenty people on the roof. A couple of our pictures below; you really only need a camera with a very modest zoom to photograph loads of landmarks.

 

[gavroche]

Has anyone ever been to the Pompidou Centre? I haven't and probably never will as I have no wish to go to Paris again. I know its design is very controversial but people say it is very interesting inside.

 

[sevenfourate]

Been many years ago: but in very recent times…..no.

I am however a big (Pardon the pun) ‘Tall Structure’ fan. Been lucky enough to go to the Strat Tower in Vegas, What is now the Willis Tower in Chicago, The tallest building in the Western hemisphere; in the Freedom Tower in New York, the Crown of the Statue of Liberty - and a few other interesting / tall / 'good' ones.

And of course the current tallest building in the World: The Burj Khalifa in Dubai. That is pretty unimaginable if I’m honest. Just rises up like Jacks Beanstalk - with seemingly no end to it. Not much pomp, culture or history to it of course: being so new and in such a newly developed area.
Unlike the Empire State Building for example; which is a true experience…

Picture below is of the Wife ‘up top' - to get an idea of its scale compared to other supposedly tall buildings; some way down below........

 

[lazybloke]

I went up the Eiffel Tower a couple of times as a kid. Always fancied returning one day for the challenge of the stairs...

Too late! Apparently they took out the stairs to the top, to increase lift capacity.