We declined the option of climbing the 1,652 steps to the summit and joined the wait for the lift. Although the queue seemed horrendous, we were rapidly "processed" and were soon holding our tickets for the ascent. The lift journey feels quite bizarre, as of course the lift’s ascent is quirky due to the varying angles. Indeed, if you want to progress to the top floor, you have to catch another lift from the second floor.

On the first floor there’s a fairly big exhibition area, and here you can see a short film about the construction of the Tower (worth the watch), numerous "historical panels," and a range of exhibitions. Don’t rush at this; it’s well laid out and extremely informative.

The second floor offers superb views around the city, and if you’ve got the stomach for it, you can gaze through the glass floor at the ground beneath you. I would suggest that this is not for the faint-hearted.

My wife isn’t too keen on heights, so I made the next level on my own. There are wax characters of Gustav Eiffel and his daughter entertaining Thomas Edison in what purports to be his office. Although the views are excellent up here, I’m not sure that they are significantly better than the second level. What was noticeable was the fact that although it was a fairly calm day at ground level, there was a bit of a breeze up here. My research, however, suggests that the tower is remarkably stable and the sway has never been more than 4.5 inches, although, surprisingly, the tower’s height may vary by as much as 6 inches!

There are a couple of stylish restaurants in the tower if you fancy it – prices aren’t cheap, but I guess it’s a fairly good experience to be eating up here. Needless to say, we didn’t dine here – perhaps another time.

We were happy to be amongst the 200 million tourists who’ve made the visit to the tower. We had great views from an international landmark.

As you climb to the different levels, take the time to stop on each one and look down at the city surrounding you. It is a magnificent sight, and by doing this at various levels, you get a sense of how high you really are as you climb, because you can see the change in the size of objects as you continue your climb. Helpful hint: Take a jacket with you on your climb, because it gets chillier as you get higher.

Everything that could be said about the Eiffel Tower has already been said.

Having said that, I would suggest that anyone visiting go near dusk. Thay way, you get to see the Eiffel in both daylight and at night. The night lights are fantastic - we just stood and stared for 15 or 20 minutes!

When you first arrive near the Eiffel, you will notice the vendors. They are selling everything from bread to soda to little, cheesy Eiffel Tower souvenirs. The vendors are a great part of the experience - you will see them flirting with women constantly and poking fun at the men.

We did not have to wait too long to buy our tickets, but there is a slightly longer wait for the elevators. You can buy tickets for either the second or third level, and I believe we paid about 8€ for the second level. The only disappointment of the whole experience was that the third level was closed for repairs; otherwise, we would have gone all the way up.

Once you are up, you can see all of Paris. It's amazing - I can't think of anything like it in America. I have yet to hear a person who has visited say that the Eiffel is overrated. I don't think you could with the views and how beautiful the Eiffel itself truly is.

By the time we made it up to the first platform, it was already dark. We wanted to drop off our postcards to have them postmarked from the Eiffel Tower, but we were too late. Instead, we had to buy envelopes from the gift store and slip them underneath the door of the Eiffel Tower’s post office. They did get the coveted postmark, though! We contemplated splurging on dinner at the restaurant but decided that they were a little too expensive for us (maybe next time). I think that the second viewing platform was the best since the top one tends to get kinda cloudy at night. It was quite nice to see Paris all lit up at night.