25 years ago in Europe: My first visit to the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is one of those world-recognised tourist icons, and in fact Wikipedia claims it’s the “single most visited paid monument in the world”; it’s almost a cliche to visit it these days, and some “real travellers” advocate skipping the tower completely. Not me. And here I am on my very first visit to the Eiffel Tower, when my family was in Paris back in 1985.

I’ve been back a couple of times since – most significantly, on my last time up the tower my now-husband proposed to me – and it still impresses me. Sure, it was built as a radio broadcasting tower, which isn’t exactly a grand traditional cause, but it’s unique, and kids the world over can draw it more or less accurately. And it’s just so – Paris. I say go there.