Going up the steps of the Eiffel tower at night is something I have dreamed of doing since I was a child. For this reason, I sought out blogs/information on the best, most insightful ways to embark on this excursion. Ironically enough, I came upon an Eiffel tower blog that showed me everything I needed to know. The blog included all “life-hacks” on how to have the best experience. From purchasing tickets in advance, to going at a certain time of the day, it was the perfect resource to help set me up for a successful trip to the Eiffel Tower.

However, I must admit that with age I have developed a small fear of heights. So, I decided to also do some scholarly research to make sure I would be completely safe on my trek up the tower! Obviously, years and years of everyone being fine was not good enough for me. I ended up reading an entry from the American Journal of Physics about the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Physics isn’t exactly my forte, so to sum it up, the Eiffel Tower was designed with torque in mind. Essentially, the height and shape of the tower was all carefully planned to balance the wind and other elements that the Tower would face. This helped calm my anxiety about going to the top, but I still was crossing my fingers for a calm night!

At last, despite all my planning, my trip up the Eiffel Tower ended up happening on a random night out in the city. I had no intentions of going, but when I saw the Tower sparkling close by, I just had to go! Unfortunately, I was by NO means wearing appropriate shoes for the endeavor. So, once I got there, I decided to forgo my brave vision of conquering every last stair and I opted for the elevator ride! It was still a great experience and instead of having my breath taken away from climbing stairs, I was able to save it all for the amazing views! It’s also worth mentioning that in my searches on the Eiffel Tower, I stumbled upon a very interesting fact. Apparently, taking photos of the Eiffel Tower at night is illegal. There are copyrights on the light show that happens every hour at night. Luckily, I am okay with breaking the rules sometimes. Seeing the Eiffel Tower at night and going to the top was one my favorite experiences and a total bucket list moment that I will never forget.

Sources:
http://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.1417530
http://myeiffeltower.com
https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/4774170/its-illegal-to-take-photos-of-the-eiffel-tower-at-night-time/