Eiffel Tower Shut Down

hey doug
thanks for article. wow glad i'm not there, seen her twice. can imagine how many upset and ticked off tourists there are. head outta paris and go see what else france has to offer. go to a area or small village not mentioned here, have a glass of wine or champagne and enjoy the countryside. stop and smell the souffles and escargot! LOL
aloha

We skipped going up the tower entirely and didn't feel cheated at all. It was also shut down twice to terrorist threats during our week in the Paris. There's a great (free) view of the thing from the Trocadero at night, if anyone is looking for an alternative?

I do feel badly for people who had tickets and didn't get to use them.

Just returned from Paris - We had no desire to climb the tower what with the crowds and the 95+ degree heat. It looks gorgeous at night sitting in the park with a beer. Just sayin.

What I fail to 'get' is what difference does it make to the very well paid employees of the Tower how monstrous the lines are? They aren't standing in them.

I applaud the workers for striking. Hopefully it will help future tourists. I read about this in The Local a few days ago when the strike was announced. The workers are calling attention to how badly thought out the new system is and how unfair it is to tourists. The workers are the only ones w the power to get the “top” people running (badly) the system to make improvements, for the sake of tourists.

The employees take the brunt of the tourists’ frustration, so they want to get this working right. Why do you say they are well-paid, Janet? It’s a private company running the Tower visits.

All strikes aren't about money. Working conditions figure too. I can imagine the verbal abuse the employees take from those waiting that long in line.

I can understand why the workers are striking. I have a relative who works at a major theme park and people really do take it out on the employees when lines are very long. I hope for everyone’s sake they work things out quickly.

The employees can see that things aren't working with the new system. They see elevator cages going up without anyone in them while lines are enormous for the walk-up people. They see at the rush hours, ppl who bought advance tickets who have to wait in line an hour because the flux is too great and they can't get on an elevator. I guess they felt the only way to get the company to "listen" to their observations was to go on strike, other methods of communication not having borne any fruit.

In this anti union era it's too easy to blame strikes on greedy workers. Remember the shut down of the Louvre when workers were sick of the gypsies preying on tourists? Earlier this year, drivers of the #4 and #12 metro struck and refused to stop at some stops between Barbes Rochechouart and Marcadet because the crack dealers were hassling passengers. These tower workers are taking one for the tourists and should be praised and thanked rather than scorned.

Just came across this for monitoring strikes http://www.cestlagreve.fr. There is also an App.

stop and smell the souffles and escargot

Escargots have little or no smell; it's the garlic parsley and butter:-)

As to the Eiffel Tower, I agree with this commenter about leaving Paris and heading off to the countryside. I've been to Paris several times, and love it, but haven't been there in awhile. Instead, we spend our time mostly in the French countryside. Eating escargot.
I've been part way up the Eiffel Tower, But I think the best thing about it is the way it looks from a distance.

75020, very well said.

Leave Paris because there’s a strike at the Eiffel Tower? Okayyyy...

Oh, no. I have tickets to the summit for Sunday August 12. I guess we’ll see if the strike still lingers in 10 days. We have it scheduled earlier in our stay to take photos and walk around the Trocadero. That Sunday is a busy day where we were going check out of our hotel, walk to Tower, go to the top with 10a tickets, get luggage and cab to Montmartre area, drop my daughter for her weeklong class, then I was going to try to make a 6:30 flight to Geneva. Maybe if it is closed, that plan will work out! I hope it works out with an open and organized visit with my tickets.

Escargots have little or no smell; it's the garlic parsley and butter:-)

Robert, I tried escargot in Paris for the first time last October! They were amazing! We stayed at a one room B&B with some lovely hosts. We had an early flight out Sunday and asked them Friday night the best way to get to CDG that time of day. At breakfast Saturday they announced that after deliberation the only way to get there was for them to drive us!

We agreed, with one condition. We asked them to take us to their favorite restaurant, one that would be known to locals but not to tourists. We went with them and her 92 year old mother (who was a hoot!) and had a memorable meal, made all the more memorable by enjoying it with our new friends. However, they insisted on ordering (and paying for) the wine.

BTW, we did watch the light show at the Eiffel Tower after being dropped off by our Citroen 2CV driver. It was part of our 2 hour 2CV tour of Paris. We didn't climb it though. On my desk at work I have a photo of my wife that I took of her standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. It was 1966 and she was 14 at the time.

@robert :0) of course, with my glass of wine too. first time trying it. have you been to the basque countryside?
@75020 thank you for your post. just retired from a retail union here in the bay area of san francisco, had 30 years in. management and corporate members can sit behind their computers saying this will work with changes. customers screaming, yelling, swearing, throwing items, drunks, drug impaired people hassling us, panhandling, shoplifting etc. for long lines, not enough help. got a 30 cent raise after 3 years! let management and corporate do the work that they are asking for changes and give them the raise. won't even buy me a loaf of bread or a gallon of gas. hope the outside world and public understand our point of view and not be scorned for things we can't control. refuse to work in that environment and conditions so i'm a happy retiree.
aloha

Open again although reports are that long queues are still an issue.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20180803/eiffel-tower-reopens-after-strike-but-problemover-long-queues