Laduree is a cake shop. But that is a very poor description of it. The cakes they make are perhaps the nicest, and most beautiful creations ever baked. At first you think it would be a shame to eat them, because they are so beautiful. But this feeling is completely irradiated when you take the first small bite. It is also the place that invented macaroons. I found this out later, but it is not uncommon for people to line up for hours just to buy their macaroons. They are the best in the world. So when I stumbled into this humble cake shop thinking it would be a good place to grab some afternoon tea for our planned picnic at the Champs du Mars, I had no idea it was world famous. But when we were sitting under the Eiffel Tower, splitting them between us and guessing flavours, I know why they were so popular.
That picnic is one of the best I remember. Not only did was have the yummiest food in the world to be nibbling on, we also got a bit of a show. Due to the huge number of tourists which flock to the tower everyday, there is a large concentration of souvenir hawkers there, wandering around, with everything from Eiffel Tower key-rings, to bottles of Champagne. Some of these hawkers don't know when no means no. We made the mistake of getting some of the Eiffel Towers they were selling, whilst we were still enjoying our picnic. Not satisfied with what we had bought, the man then wouldn't leave us alone, insisting we buy more. And then, mid-sentence, he stopped and joined his buddies high tailing it out of the park. Because the Police were coming. Apparently, given the high tourist rate, and the potential aggressiveness of the pedlars, Police patrolled the park. I'm not sure if it happened everyday, but in the hour or so we were there watching, mounted police chased them out of the park twice. Then, just when we were preparing to climb the tower, a whole host of police ran past after them. It was entertaining to watch, and I don't think the police ever caught them, but at least one guy was trying best to out-run them.
The Eiffel Tower is a think of romance. When people think of Paris, they invariably think of the tower. I am no different. To me it has been the symbol of Paris, France, Europe and Travel in general. When I saw it for the first time in the distance, I was excited. When I saw it up close, I was ecstatic. When I climbed it I hate it.
We decided in a moment of complete foolishness, that we were going to take the stairs. Then difference in the size of the line, and the cost of the entrance swayed us. At this point we were pretty tired. We had blister from our first mad dash around paris. I had swapped to my pink converse, which I had only brought for Thailand, as I didn't think them up to Parisian fashion standard. I'm glad I did, or I wouldn't have been able to walk at this point. As it was we could still barely walk, as it had been a very long day, and we'd already done the 248 stair in the Arc de Triomphe. But take the stairs we did. And I hated every last on of them. There are 347 steps to the First level. Then there are 674 to the second level. The only ting I can say is this. They were hell, I hated them, but in the end can truly say I climbed the Eiffel Tower. I didn't just glide up in an elevator, like so many others. I climbed every last damned step, and I really think there should be a distinction between those who climbed and those who glided.
The views from the top of the tower were amazing. I will always be fascinated how people climb up really high and then zoom in with their cameras on things on the ground. We watched the sun set, and the blue come into the sky. We called my dad, still at home, and sat up the top, eating the last macaroons, and giggling about how we were in Paris! Then, realising the light was perfect, we climbed back down in a hurry to watch the lights come on against the deep blue of the sky, and the light show start. After midnight, we dragged ourselves back to our hotel, exhausted but smiling. We climbed the Eiffel Tower.
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