Hitchhiking Around the World

When we got to Paris, the hostel was full. Carol said," I know a cheap hotel where a lot of the students stay." The hotel was full also. As it was so, late Carol said, "You can sleep at my place, but you have to be very quiet, and you have to leave early in the morning because my landlady doesn't allow visitors after nine." The next thing I remembered was Carol shaking me and saying, "Jim, you have to get up." When I woke up, I wasn't sure where I was, then I remembered that I had to leave early. As I started to get out of my sleeping bag, I remembered; I only had my shorts on, and I had that condition that most young guys have in the morning. I got out of my sleeping bag, keeping my back to Carol, and proceeded to get dressed. I took my passport and the map, and said, "I'll see you at noon." When I got outside, I could see the Eiffel Tower, and it wasn't far away. I started walking toward it. It was one of the things I wanted to see in Paris. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited monument in the world. When I got to the tower, it was early in the morning, and there was no one around. The more I looked at the legs and walked around them. I was sure that I could climb up one of the legs to the first level. I started up the leg (why, because I was 22 years old). When I got to the first level, I enjoyed the view, when the elevator doors opened, and some workmen came out and saw me. There was a lot of yelling and arm waving, and they surrounded me and captured me. They took me down to ground level and called the police. The police came and took me to their station where they put me into a room; after a while, a detective who spoke English came into the room and asked me some questions, like why did you climb up? Did you plant any bombs? Did you have any friends with you? Were you going to do any damage? And so forth. After a while, the detective decided that I wasn't a danger and let me go.