Thursday, April 19, 2012

up eiffel, notre dame, tour montparnasse or arc de triumphe?

pls help me in this....



i would like to know opinions



i dont mind going up all of them but im kind of scared of heights. so i wouldnt wanna go up for the same views!!!!,,, so maybe i should go up just 2 of them... or 3...



ok i am lost ;(



would appreciate any advice



thankssss




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I am moderately bothered by heights, in places where it%26#39;s possible to look straight down - so I would not likely do the Tour Montparnasse.





That said, I%26#39;m not very bothered by places where I basically am looking %26quot;out%26quot; rather than %26quot;down%26quot; so love the view from the Arc de Triomphe (you can stand 20 or more feet back from the edge - which also has a fairly high rail - so it may not seem all that %26quot;high%26quot; to you). The view from Notre Dame likely would be okay for you also - it%26#39;s all enclosed in wire mesh (no %26quot;fear of falling issues%26quot;) and in many places you are looking out over the roof (relatively close to the surface of it) and then to the view of the Seine/city beyond - a great view, and likely you would be fine with it. One other that you didn%26#39;t mention is the view from Sacre Coeur and surrounding area - there, you basically are looking out over Paris from a very high hill, so should not seem like %26quot;height%26quot; but you still will see the Eiffel Tower off in the distance etc. (just not as clear/good a view as you would get from Notre Dame or the Arc).





If you%26#39;re really bothered, as apparently you are, I would skip the Eiffel Tower - you can see the view of Paris from much less nervewracking places!





Good luck and have fun.




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What about the Pompidou Center? Not terribly high but a decent view...




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Forgot one other - either Galleries Lafayette or Printemps (not sure which, as I haven%26#39;t done it) reportedly has a great view from the roof area (but neither store is all that high). Might be worth checking out if shopping there.




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I would say Arc de triumphe, quite a triumphant feeling after hiking up those stairs and I have never waiting in line there.



Montparnasse is nice around sunset. An indoor viewing area with a bar and upstairs open deck with guard railing is there. The price is right, never much of a wait and a fast elevator ride to boot.



Notre Dame Towers has an incredible line. It has been closed the past two times I had guests wanting to do this. Still waiting for this one.



Eiffel was crowded. I didn%26#39;t have to wait long in line thus I went up. Definitely the most open of all high places. If afraid of heights, do not attempt.



Also Sacre Coeur, Parc Belleville (street level no climbing required) and Parc Chamont have high points with good city views.




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I did them all except ET and added Sacre Coeur.





My mother who hates heights was OK at the Arc because we did it at night (beautiful!!!), she was OK at Montparnasse in the day because you can%26#39;t look straight down (you are quite far back from the edge). I liked it because you can see the ET and you can pick out all the other places.





I LOVED Notre Dame towers(scared Mom didn%26#39;t go up) - you may have problems there but I think it%26#39;s worth it. Get there before it opens and you%26#39;ll have better luck with lines.





The view from Sacre Coeur is nice, but you aren%26#39;t as close to the landmarks so it%26#39;s not as exciting or interesting. Go there for the church, the view is secondary.





We skipped ET because of lines and all the other ones we were planning on doing.





So do the Arc at night and one of the others for sure, maybe add a third if you%26#39;re brave. Montparnasse and Notre Dame are definitely different than each other.




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There is one other view I liked that wouldn%26#39;t be scary but is lovely because it%26#39;s on a hill - try going up to the top of the Pantheon. You didn%26#39;t mention the time of year (the upper level is closed in winter) but you get a really nice view over Paris (plus the site itself is fairly interesting, as its the burial site for many famous scientists, politicians, philosophers, etc., whose names you will know - such as Louis Braille - although you will probably not spend more than about 45 minutes on that part).




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I was in Paris a couple off weeks ago. I don%26#39;t have an issue with heights but my companion did. She felt the top of the Arc de Triomphe was very exposed and she wouldn%26#39;t go near the edge (of course, there are hight railings and there is no way anyone could get over them without considerable effort). The top of the Eiffel Tower is %26#39;caged%26#39; - the bars are thin and fairly widely spaced (so you can easily take photos through them and they don%26#39;t interfere with viewing). My companion felt much safer there as she felt enclosed.




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