The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe is understandably lesser known considering it comes second to the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower. But what many might not consider is that the Eiffel Tower is so tall that during the colder months the top of it is actually up in the clouds meaning there will be a spectacular view…of nothing but grey mist! I’ve heard that on such an occasion it is not even possible to go right to the top of the Eiffel tower as they only permit you to go up to the second section, where the stairs stop and the elevator starts (or continues if you lazily chose to take the elevator from the bottom [understandable with small children, injury or disability] otherwise take the stairs, its cheaper and far healthier! Who doesn’t love a work out while sight seeing).
The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe however offers a spectacular view! Right in the center of the most uncertain roundabout in the world, and the star that divides Paris’s districts, you can see all of this from the top!
The city sits beautifully below you in perfect sections with those world renowned monuments peaking up out of the top of the city below. From here you get to see the Eiffel tower rise above the city below, which you wouldn’t be able to see being up the tower itself. – This is always the unconsidered fact when climbing up a monument. People forget that it might be nice to have that monument in your picture, or view, but you can’t because you are up it! Which is why an alternative view might actually be just as, if not more rewarding. – The Arc de Triomphe is also at the top of the Champs-Élysées offering a splendid view of infamous shopping street and the Tuileries Palace at the opposite end, when it is not obscured by the giant Ferris wheel at Concorde during the Christmas season.
There is nothing I love more than climbing up high to get a view of a city from above. But even I have to admit this was something else. Staring out at Sacré Cœur in the distance up on its hill, looking at the middle section of the Eiffel tower submerged from below in the city and from above in the clouds, and trying to make out the shape of Notre Dame cathedral in the distance, I loudly admitted that I could have stayed up there all day!
> Added bonus, as a European Citizen it is completely free! There is also a below 26 discount for those not so lucky. Alternatively using a EU university identity card might grant you free access as well if you pretend you’re from that country and not just a student.
From Melbourne she flies 