Paris. City of love, art, fine cuisine, and some of the world's greatest architecture. No trip to Paris is complete without a visit to the Eiffel Tower. The tallest structure in Paris, the most visited monument in the world, the global icon of France.

The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift, to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is more than 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by elevator. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.

The Eiffel Tower has fascinated travelers worldwide since its inception and building completed in 1889 in time for the World's Fair in Paris.

It's ironic to think that the most recognised iconic landmark in the world faced so much opposition to it being built. The creator Gustave Eiffel had come up with the design and faced so much opposition, that Parisians at first protested it being built, and after it was built deemed it a hideous creation. In fact, it was originally planned that 20 years after it was finished it would be demolished.

Your reporter journeyed to the top of the Eiffel Tower on the last night of his stay in Paris, at midnight. The experience was so truly magical that your reporter feels the need to share how this was brought about, and how the reader can make this dreamy night come true for them.

Depending on where in Paris the traveller is, they will need to take a metro train to the tower. It is suggested that if the traveller wants to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower by midnight, that they leave their lodging by 6 p.m.

Getting to the Eiffel Tower from all corners of Paris will take about an hour, if not more. Paris has a complex system of metro train lines which criss-cross and zig-zag, and it is more than likely that the traveller will need to change more than one train. With a bit of precision and planning it can be pulled off, as the metro system is highly developed.

Once the traveler has exited the station, it is necessary to follow the hoardes of tourists and signs leading to Le Eiffel Tower. One cannot really get lost at this stage because everybody has the same destination in mind - the tower that symbolises the city of love.

Walking past several stalls set up by locals selling trinkets, glow-in-the-dark-sticks, and a myriad of souvenirs is enthralling.

Being Paris, like everything else, souvenirs are generally very expensive here, but keep an eye out for the streetside sidewalk stalls set up by lovely smiling migrant vendors - they are definitely more flexible with their prices and will help you bag a bargain, so to speak.

By the end of the night the front pockets were so bulging with my souvenir booty that your traveler looked like a smuggler of some sort!

Back on the Eiffel Tower now - the great thing about the location of the tower is that it is very close to the banks of the Seine RIver, the iconic river of Paris, a symbol of its 2,000-year history. A well-trodden path for the Eiffel Tower visitors is to stop by the banks of the Seine and sitting by the water.

Your traveller decided that given it was 7.30 p.m. at the time, a restful stop by a riverside cafe, sipping some Parisian coffee and snack on a tasty and absolutely scrumptious brioche was the best idea.

While snackng away and basking in the scenery - river right in front of the traveller, and the Eiffel Tower in the distance, it really felt like a scene in the middle of idyllic bliss. A conversation can be struck up with some American tourists who were thinking along the same lines as your traveller was, agreeing that we had the entire night to see and be inside the tower.

Once the snacking and riverside resting was completed, your traveler proceeded towards the Eiffel Tower, all the while snapping away pictures of the majestic architecture, this feat of engineering.

Coming closer and closer to the tower, travelers will come to realise that the tower is even bigger than it looks in pictures.

There is one downer however - and that is the long line. The queue of people lining up to climb the tower is quite obscenely long, but like everything else in life that's worth having, the traveler will simply have to accept that this comes with seeing the most recognised tourist landmark in the world.

Something your writer suggests is striking up a conversation with fellow visitors while in line, and sometimes hilarious conversations are to be had.

At the time your writer climbed the Eiffel Tower, admission prices were as follows:

1. Climbing the stairs are 4 euros

2. Going to the 1st floor is 4.50 euros

3. Going to the 2nd floor is 7.80 euros

4.Getting to the top is 12.50 euros

The writer highly recommends the following Web site for prices and any possible concessions:http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/ - it is recommended that English-speakers use Google Chrome translator when viewing this site if the reader does not speak French.

Now, back to the tower. When the traveler is under the tower directly, it is fascinating to look closely at the steelworks that hold this graceful and grand giant together. All the patterns and steel holdings criss-cross to make a mesmerising pattern - one can literally look at it for hours. Which is not really an impossibility given the wait to climb the tower can climb up to two hours sometimes. But don't let that put you off.

One of the best parts about climbing the tower in the evening is the lightshow that happens. The lightshow begins at about 8 p.m. and continues throughout the night. When the lights and rays are turned on in the tower, it feels like Paris has come alive!

Things usually start to get quite dark, the surroundings that is, so when the lights of the tower are on, the surroundings are absolutely flooded with honey coloured bright light, bathing everyone with the creative ambience.

The first part of your entry into the tower will be a literal 'climb' up several flights of stairs. Try not to focus on the fact that you find the stairs taxing and steep, but rather do what your writer did - focus on the intricate beauty and detail of the architecture. Panels of light filtering through the steel framework really makes the feel of the place ominous, an almost religious experience, like you are climbing the stairs to heaven. And of course, traveller, don't forget to watch the view as you go further up and up the tower.

At the first and second floor, the traveler will get to see Paris by evening. The city by this stage, 10 p.m., has lit up, like flickering fireflies of a million shades and colours. The effect is absolutely magical. I cannot think of any other way to describe it.

The aerial bird's eye view your traveller got of Paris was just breath-taking, the city was like a patchwork of literally gleaming jewels. And the Parisisan air up there is so cool and refreshing. Your traveller never believed in the concept of Nirvana, but it really felt like it.

Your traveler knows one thing for sure - the Eiffel Tower is definitely the heart and soul of Paris, and Paris would not be Paris without it.