First Stop, Eiffel Tower

The first few times I was in Paris I skipped a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I thought that it was too clique, too touristy. How young and foolish I was then. On my third trip I relented. My traveling companions wanted to go, so I didn't really have much of a choice. On this trip, it was my first stop.

In my opinion, the Eiffel Tower is a tourist destination worthy of the trip. The iconic tower, which can be seen from all over in the city, is almost 1,063 feet tall. Construction of the tower began in January 1887 and was completed just two years and three months later, in time for the 1889 Paris World's Fair. The tower was only supposed to be temporary the time any claimed the tower to be a monstrosity that ruined the city's skyline. Over 100 hundred years later, it's hard to imagine the city without the Eiffel Tower.

While waiting on line to go up, try not to think about the fact that the tower was only built to last 20 years. The elevators are glass, give you a view of the city and the structure of the tower, and are very scary. I made a short video of the ride down, but it doesn't give you a complete sense of the ride.

Unless you are absolutely afraid of height, go to the top. Sure the view from the first level is lovely, but the view from the top is amazing. Also, it’s a great place to go on your first day in the city because it gives you a 360-degree lay of the land. If you know which sights you want to visit in your trip you can identify them and see where they lay in relation to one another. For the rest of your trip, you can think back to what you saw on the top of the tower and remember where things are. Also, you get a good sense of how big the city is.