Notre Septembre Inoubliable – L’Escalier

 Allons-y ! On y va ! C’est parti ! Suivez-moi en France où je vais vous parler d’un mois de septembre inoubliable ! 

Let’s go! Follow me to France where I will tell you about a September to remember!

(To read last year’s post, “E is for La tour Eiffel” Click HERE )

Est-ce que nous y sommes allés? (Did we go there?)

Bien sûr ! C’est un “must” à Paris.  En fait, j’ai essayé de penser à quelque chose d’autre qui commence par “E” car j’ai déjà écrit à ce sujet. J’ai pensé à “Escargot” (nous en avons goûté à Dijon), ou le piment d’Espelette (que nous avons découvert grâce à mon amie) mais finalement, j’ai décidé d’écrire au sujet de l’Escalier. Les escaliers de la Tour Eiffel, précisément.

For sure! This is a “must” in Paris. In fact, I tried to think of something else that starts with “E” because I have already written about the Eiffel Tower. I  thought of “Escargot” (which we tasted in Dijon), or the Espelette pepper (which we discovered thanks to my friend) but finally I decided to write about the stairs. The staircase at the Eiffel Tower, to be precise.

Comment cela s’est-il passé ? (So how was it?)

Je vous ai déjà dit que j’avais pris beaucoup de photos, mais j’ai découvert sur l’ordinateur de mon mari… une vidéo! Donc, je ne vais pas décrire ceci avec des mots. Je dois vous dire que nous sommes montés à la Tour par les escaliers jusqu’au deuxième étage. Il y avait 704 marches. J’ai bien mérité le pain aux raisins que j’ai mangé au petit-déjeuner ce matin-là ! Toutefois, on doit tout de même prendre l’ascenseur pour atteindre le sommet de la Tour. C’est ainsi qu’en descendant, mon mari a fait une vidéo. La voilà !


I already told you that I took a lot of photos, but on my husband’s computer I found … a video! So I will not describe it in words. I have to tell you that we climbed all the stairs up to the second level. There were 704 steps. I deserved that “pain aux raisins” that I had for breakfast that morning! However, you have to take the elevator to reach the top of the tower. So on the way down, my husband made a video.

Si c’était à refaire, qu’est-ce que je ferais de différent? (If I could do it again, would I do anything differently?)

Non, je ne changerai rien.  C’est une chose incontournable que de monter la Tour Eiffel quand on va à Paris pour la première fois. C’est une merveille sur le plan technique ! Cependant, je ne me sens pas obligée de le faire une deuxième fois quand je retournerai à Paris. La prochaine fois, je serai contente de la voir à distance.

No, I wouldn’t change anything. It’s necessary to climb this Tower when you go to Paris for the first time. It’s a marvel of engineering! However, I don’t feel like I have to do it again when I go back to Paris. Next time, I’ll be happy to look at it from a distance.

 

Les petites astuces de votre blogueuse (Tips and tricks from your “Forty, C’est Fantastique” hostess) 🙂

À mon avis, il faut le faire “hors saison.” Quand nous y étions, il y avait encore beaucoup de monde, mais je crois qu’il y en a moins qu’en été ! Si vous en êtes capables physiquement, prenez les escaliers. Les billets sont moins chers et la vue y est plus belle que par l’ascenseur ! De plus, je crois que c’est plus facile de faire attention à vos affaires. Dans l’ascenseur, il y a beaucoup de gens autour de vous et malheureusement, il existe des voleurs, des “pickpockets.” dans ces  sites touristiques.

In my opinion, you should do this “off season.” When we were there, there were still a lot of people, but I think it was a lot less than in the summer! If you’re physically capable, definitely climb the stairs. The tickets cost less, and the view is way better than in the elevator! In addition, I think it’s easier to keep track of your things. In the elevator, it’s really crowded and sadly, there are thieves and pickpockets at the big tourist attractions like this.

Et vous, chers lecteurs? L’escalier ou l’ascenseur? Que préférez-vous ? 

And you, dear readers? Stairs or elevator? Which do you prefer?

 

 

 

 

 

*Veuillez excuser mes fautes de français ! J’apprends de plus en plus chaque jour mais je vais toujours fais faire des erreurs 🙂

27 thoughts on “Notre Septembre Inoubliable – L’Escalier

  1. I love your idea of writing in both French of English, wish I was proficient enough in two languages to do something like that. When I visited the Eiffel Tower, I took the stairs and I think I would like to test my fitness by doing it if I ever went again!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks for the visit! I love flexing my brain to try and write in both languages…I learn a lot that way 🙂 BTW if you like stairs…wait for my “L is for Lyon” post!

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  2. Oh la la chère blogeuse. En ce qui concerne la Tour eiffel, encore un monument que je n’ai pas visité…. C’est à dire que lorsque je vois la longueur des files d’attentes, ma nature impatiente me fait prendre la 1ère rue à droite (ou à gauche, c’est selon…) et je contemple ces sites de loin !
    D’une façon générale, j’aime bien marcher alors les escaliers sont tout trouvé… mais l’élévation motorisée a parfois son charme…
    Je redoute maintenant que tu ne parles du Louvre…. haha

    Liked by 1 person

    1. wow, when we went, neither line was terribly long, but of the two, the elevator was the longer one. I can assume that Lara and Sebastian took the stairs, n’est-ce pas ? I loved the book, btw…I promise to get over to Goodreads to do a proper review soon!

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  3. Yes, the Tower was lovely from different vantage points in the city, and coming around several corners in the evening to suddenly spot the twinkling lights. Our hotel wasn’t too far away so we had lots of spottings. But the evening we decided to walk TO the Tower for a closeup, I was terribly disappointed – there were so many low-lifes and pushy trinket sellers underneath the Tower, we quickly admired the engineering and left.

    We generally snacked at markets and cafes. I didn’t ‘meet’ any escargots 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, that’s too bad about the Tower. Yes, there were a lot of hawkers of trinkets when we were there, but it wasn’t anything compared to that one day in June that I had the “quick tour” of Paris. Snacking at markets and cafés is good !

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      1. Still, it was and is an engineering marvel!!

        I liked wandering the Marais neighborhood on a Sunday; one of my favorite days. So awful to think of the massacre at the Jewish deli there. Each arrondissement has its own charm (although we spent most of our time in museums and parcs. So much to marvel at indoors and out!

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    1. …which is an engineering marvel as well! Particularly at the Eiffel Tower! There is another elevator near where I live at a place called “Seven Falls” which literally takes people up the side of a mountain (there are also some 225 stairs, but I think with the altitude it’s a harder climb than the Eiffel Tower!) The view at the top is not the city of Paris, but rather it is seven waterfalls. A natural marvel, and with the elevator it is accessible to tons more people than it would otherwise be.

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  4. Wow. I had no idea there were so many stairs just to the second floor of the tower. I climbed them last May and I hated going around in circles. It made me feel a little dizzy. And out of shape! If I were to go again, I’d definitely take the elevator. One time is enough for me. 🙂

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    1. The elevator has its charm too, but off-season is the way to go. I think that’s the only way we were able to get this video! I’m really glad my husband had the presence of mind to do that because I think it does impart the feeling of being in the elevator.

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  5. Ca fait tellement longtemps que je suis montee en haut de la tour effeil! C’est vrai que la vue est vraiment sublime, mais comme tu dis il y a tellement de touristes et de monde! Et puis 700 marches — ouf! Ca fait un peu long. La vue depuis le Sacre-coeur est aussi magnifique et il y a moins d’escaliers 😉

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