Did you know that once nightfall hits, the lights of the Eiffel Tower sparkle for the first 5 minutes of every hour? It is truly my most favorite thing to see in Paris and the most beautiful experience of my life. I arrived at my favorite place to experience the twinkling wonder (Pont d’lena) with a bottle of rosè and a gleam in my eye. Much to my surprise, it was still pretty sunny at 10pm in July, so I poured another glass of wine and waited patiently for 11pm to roll around.

Street vendors selling bottles of wine approached those enjoying the scene and waiting for “the show.” The couple next to me, (shout out to Juan and his wife) were approached by a seller. “Please, I am just a poor man. Both of my parents are dead!” the seller lamented. I sat in anticipation, waiting to see if a deal had been struck. After some back and forth, the desire to consume a bottle of wine won out and the vendor had his cash and the couple had their wine. I turned to them to comment on their riveting exchange and we struck up a conversation. The exchange was mostly travel related (a big chunk being about Paris) until I was asked, “Are you an artist?” Now, I’ve been called a lot of things, but never an artist. I quickly responded, “No?” I wanted to ask them if they had seen my stick figure drawings, a sure sign that an artist I am not. They looked confused and responded with, “You have such a way with words. The way you describe Paris, I thought for sure you were a writer!” At this point, dear reader, I felt a jolt of excitement because lately I had been wanting to get back to writing. The cosmos were calling me back to the writers world. I smiled proudly and thank them for their kind words.

Just then, the clock struck 11pm. Showtime! The sparkling sensation had began. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that a month prior, I had COVID-19 and the isolation damn near broke me. I was worried that I wouldn’t feel the same way about the flickering lights festooned upon the Iron Lady, but rest assured, COVID brought me down, but it didn’t keep me down! I wasn’t broken. I wept, tears streaming down my face as thousands of lights flickered, illuminating the majestic structure. I wept for COVID. I wept for life, for love, for independent journeys (heck, I’m weeping now as I write this!) It was just so beautiful.

My new friends and I chatted for a bit more. As I was about to collect my things to leave, I had quite the surprise… the show started again, 30 minutes early! Cue tears. This time I cried for the beauty of it all and for how lucky I felt to be experiencing it. Now it was definitely time to say goodbye to my new friends and head back to the hotel. On the metro home (Line 6 in between Passy and Bir-Hakeim), I passed the Eiffel Tower and it was a new hour, so sparkle city again. Complete magic.

Tips, Links, and Locations

Best place to view the tower Pont d’lena 75116 Paris, France

Eiffel Tower Metro views Metro Line 6 Between Passy and Bir-Hakeim