The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It was named after the engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.98 million people ascended it in 2011. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.
The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second. The third level observatory’s upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground, the highest accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. Although there are stairs to the third and highest level, these are usually closed to the public and it is generally only accessible by lift.
With this location, we bid au revoir to France. So write a goodbye poem extolling the beauty you are about to leave behind!
RECALLING EIFFEL’S TOWER
It soars high
above all below;
old iron
cleaves the sky
and Paris smiles, still aglow
in memory’s eye.
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Love the personification of Paris smiling here, William. 🙂
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[…] PHOENIX RISING JULY P.A.D. TRAVELOG – DESTINATION: POETRY (EIFFEL TOWER) […]
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Eiffel Tower
If it’s an entrance
is it also an exit ?
Does one arrive here
leave too, through iron artwork?
Giant arch – latticed portal.
Copyright © Hannah Gosselin 2015
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Love On the Streets of Paris
We must say au revoir to gay Paree,
to the small cafè where we drank
cafè au lait, and nibbled sweet pastry.
I will never forget the Left Bank.
The Latin Quarter’s cobblestone streets,
where we strolled Boulevard St. Michel.
We oohed and ahed like true touristes;
Cluny Museum cast its spell.
That kiss we shared in pale moonlight
in the glow of the Eiffel Tower,
knowing this was to be our last night.
Oh, how I loved every hour.
Bewitching city of Paris, France,
what a lovely spot for romance.
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July 26 – Eiffel Tower
No Goodbye
I cannot say goodbye
To a place I’ve never been
Even though I am familiar
Through pictures and movies
Of much of the city of Paris
A place I might like one day to go
And then I could say goodbye with feeling
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So Long
I pack up my comfy walking shoes
that are covered with the
dust of the ages
and my camera filled with images
of flowers and cafes and monuments
tourist books and brochures fill
the front pocket of my suitcase
I take one last look over my
shoulder at the magnificent tower –
a gateway to the past a
vision of the future –
and bid adieu to beauty and light
au revoir, bonne nuit, A bientot,
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Eiffel Tower
Way up high you can see Paris
All white
Like dead man’s bones
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