Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

Coming home at midnight after a great evening in Paris with no one to drunk dial, I shot this little video clip for you instead. The world’s a good place, full of good people, and even though there was a light rain falling when I shot this, I just needed to step onto the balcony and marvel at the Eiffel Tower.

This is Day 55 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences across Europe. Still to come: Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.

Overcome by the merging of my love of Paris and my love of guidebooks while enjoying Paris’ Panthéon, I just had to shoot this little clip.

This is Day 54 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences across Europe. Still to come: Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.

The big Eiffel Tower question: How high is high enough? Going up the Eiffel Tower is one of the great travel thrills in Europe. Given the cost, the long lines, and the time involved, a big question for many is: How high to go up? For €11 you can ride to the first level (200 feet up) and the second level (400 feet up). And for €17 you can ride all the way to the top (900 feet up). For me, the best view is from the second level (the top is actually higher than it needs to be to see Paris). But it is a thrill to be at the top of the tower. With this clip, you can actually see the same view from each level and decide what’s best for your visit.

(This is Day 53 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences across Europe. Still to come: Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Follow along at http://www.ricksteves.com/blog.)

Photo: thetravelphile.com

Once upon a time, long ago, before the Internet, there was a Rick Steves guidebook called Mona Winks which contained historic walks and tours of Europe’s 20 greatest museums — “take-you-by-the-hand self-guided walks to Europe’s most exhausting and frightening cultural obligations.” Those tours survive to this day in our various city guidebooks and on our free Rick Steves Audio Europe app. While in Paris, I’m reviewing all the existing audio tours (and charting out new ones for Rue Cler and the Père Lachaise Cemetery) and I met a woman actually following a ripped-out chapter from her 20-year-old copy of Mona Winks. Back then, I remember encouraging people to rip up their guidebooks (and making that more palatable by offering this deal: send back the pieces and $5, and I’ll mail you a new Mona Winks guidebook…intact).

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This is Day 52 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences across Europe. Still to come: Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.

One of history’s greatest megalomaniacs was Napoleon Bonaparte. I’m forever enthralled by the majesty of his tomb and the memorials to his family surrounding it. He put his son and siblings on various thrones around Europe: brother Joseph, who was King of Naples and Spain; brother Louis, who was King of Holland; brother Jérôme, who was King of Westphalia; son Napoleon II, who was King of Rome; sister Elisa, who was Grand Duchess of Tuscany; and lots of nephews and nieces. It got me thinking about autocrats, political nepotism, and how lonely it would be if the only people you could really, really trust were relatives.

This is Day 51 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences across Europe. Still to come: Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.