Flying W Things

Earlier this month I was forced to go on a business trip to Europe. We went to Paris for a global technical conference with fellow Disney Channel folks, and then from there to Amsterdam for IBC, a broadcast trade show.

We got a special tour of the Eiffel Tower while we were in Paris. It was somewhat surreal to trundle off the bus and realize that I was standing in the shadow of the freaking Eiffel Tower. I managed to not say "Holy Crap, that's the Eiffel Tower!" out loud but you can bet I was thinking it pretty hard.

The "special tour" meant that we got to go up to the broadcast tower section - two levels above where the normal tourist tops out. It was breathtaking, and a little sobering to be 320 meters off the ground with little more than a two inch pipe railing between you and a quick trip down.

I took some pictures:

A self-portrait at the base. I got good at taking the "up the nose" shots on this trip. (The trick is to not dip your head down into your chest. If you do that, you'll give yourself up to three extra chins. Not attractive.)

This is the tip top of the Eiffel Tower, from the uppermost catwalk/broadcast transmission level. As you can see, we were pretty close to the top.

I took this shot by sticking my super-long gorilla arm out over the railing. I did remember to put the wrist strap on - well, at least before I took the second one.

I took this picture from the upper broadcast level. Daniel and Chris are on the lower broadcast level in the foreground. The Place de la Concorde is in the upper middle of the picture, with the Tuilerie Gardens and the Louvre to the right.

I stitched together this panorama in a vain attempt to capture what was special about the visit. The afternoon was perfect, the light was amazing, and the city was literally laid out at our feet. From left to right you can see the Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Couer, the Louvre, and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Yes, I know there are some problems with the panorama at some of the join points, and the color matching is off. I'm sure you can still get a sense of the great time I had at the Eiffel Tower.