After a long day site seeing at the Louvre, my friends and I finally made it to our most desired location, the most famous and glorious monument in Paris, the Eiffel Tower. This global icon located on the Champ de Mars exemplifies extreme nationalism and pride for the city of Paris, France. The tower was built in 1889 as the entrance arch for the World’s Fair, and is significant because of its stature. We arrived under the tallest building in Paris around 7 p.m. with our wine and baguettes just in time to enjoy a French sunset picnic.
My friends and I sat underneath the Eiffel Tower for a few hours eating, drinking, and taking in the enormous, breathtaking iron lattice tower. This architecture was not common during the late 1800s and was considered “ugly” by the people in France when the tower was first built. Not only did I notice the tower and its structure, but I also noticed the many other tourists from all over the world sitting below the tower spending time with their family and friends. The Eiffel Tower draws in large crowds of people each day, and is the single most visited paid monument in the world. I found it interesting that within France’s borders, people that visit from other countries, share the same pride and attraction for the monument and its history.
Along with the tourist, when we decided to get in line to climb the 324 m tower my friends and I were bombarded by gypsies. The gypsies were begging for money near the lines at most of the attractions in Paris. It was fascinating to see how they all connived together to gain money for them selves to survive through the tourists. The gypsies were definitely separated and stood out from the rest of the French population. The gypsies live in Paris, yet have their own separate identity within the French society. This was very different for me to see because I am from a very small town and have never seen anything like it. Cities as big as Paris have a much more dense population and more diversity, therefore I had to be careful of my surroundings and my belongings.
Finally after waiting in the long line, we began our journey to the top. Following each step up, we caught an even greater glimpse of the city below. The view was amazing and everlasting. From the top we could see the Seine River that serves as commercial waterway within the regions in France. This waterway eventually terminates into the Bay of the Seine area in the English Channel and is navigable by large ocean vessels. There are 37 bridges over the Seine River in Paris that connect the different regions of the city. Also all of the buildings located near the Eiffel Tower are remarkably lower to the ground so that nothing can take away from the Eiffel’s superiority and gloriousness.
Nothing compared to the fun evening picnic and the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower that I experienced in Paris. I will never forget the beauty and history of the architecture, the extreme pride and nationalism for showing off the Tower, and the different ethnic people around that I witnessed in Paris that night. The Eiffel Tower gave me a great sense of Paris' pride and nationalism for France and allowed me to overlook the entire city.
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