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The long lines of tourists snaking under the tower confirmed that we weren’t alone in our quest to scale the iconic tower designed by Gustav Eiffel. In fact, it would seem that half of Europe shared the same idea as us. Still, if the English are good at anything, it’s queuing. So we joined the line and waited our turn. Unfortunately, the French have a blind spot when it comes to signage – and a dearth of information led to us mistakenly joining the line for the ‘stairs’ rather than the ticket office.
After writing off a 30 minute wait in the wrong queue, we were forced to join the back of another line for the lifts. An hour later we made it to the lift and ascended to the second floor to be met by some stunning views and the longest queue we’d seen that day, encircling the second floor as passengers awaited the lift to the top. With only 4 hours left to have lunch and see some more of Paris in the springtime, we decided not to give the tower another hour of our day, so we descended the stairs and headed for le Metro and the beautiful district and old-world charm of Montmartre.
As we wound our way through the back streets and climbed the hundreds of steps to Le Sacré-Cœur our calves reminded us that we’d managed to cover a great swath of the city. As we ascended the hill of Montmartre we were greeted by an accordion player wearing a beret (a string of onions and we’d have had the shot of the day!). The views from the top of the Basilica confirmed just how far we’d managed to walk in a single day. Paris is fairly compact in comparison to London and it is possible to walk the city and see the main sights in a day if you’re fairly fit.
With Ebbsfleet just twenty minutes from Sevenoaks, it’s just as easy to get to Paris as it is to get to any of our major cities here in the UK. So, if you have a day to spare this summer a £59 return ticket to Paris offers great value for money. For those of you with a spring in your step it is indeed possible to walk the city in a day. A river boat cruise down the Seine to Notre Dame is an option for those of you who want a ‘cruisey’ day. And, if you’re after something a little more cultured then you could opt to spend a day getting lost in the Louvre – a great way to spend a day before heading home through the tunnel.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 April 2008 )
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