the eiffel tower was the first thing I went to see in paris.

when you live in new york city, you get used to being surrounded by a world that is staggeringly vertical.
but the eiffel tower, unlike the empire state building or the brooklyn bridge or even the bethesda fountain, is utterly alone in its height.









everyone else filed up to see it on the inside.







 

I liked the outside.









apparently, if you step on the grass, you might wake it up.









you can buy a tiny eiffel tower for one euro on pretty much any street corner in paris.
or you can buy one under the big eiffel tower itself for two euros, or fifty cents if you act annoyed enough.









it looks even taller at night.

















on the stairs, you walk right next to the pulleys that haul the elevators up and down.
if you stand still on the platform, you can feel the metal pillar supports trembling under the weight of all those tourists.









the champs de mars looks like it must always be lush and green, even in the middle of a vicious snowstorm.









every hour on the hour, the tower starts to flash and sparkle.
I was running down the stairs when the ten pm strobes began.







































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