Here are some important updates if you are planning to visit Le Mont St. Michel and the Eiffel Tower this year and next:

Le Mont St Michel:
There are big changes here that you need to build quite a bit of extra time into your day. The parking area is a good 45-minute walk to the entrance, and the same for the way back. That makes it an hour and a half, in addition to the site visit. Also, there is a great deal of walking involved; if anyone has difficulty, then it will be a challenge... even if you are walking from the parking lot to the shuttle and then between the shuttle drop-off point and Le Mont St Michel. It’s about 300 yards each way.

The Eiffel Tower:
My latest information is that there is still only one working elevator. But, the good news is that tickets can once again be pre-booked... although there are fewer than normal because of the elevator situation. As of right now, tickets can be pre-booked until September 1 (June is sold out and much of July, as well). Please be sure to check the website regularly since things seem to be changing all the time. http://www.eiffel-tower.com
Attention: When you buy tickets for the very top of the Eiffel Tower, you will not be able to bypass the queue on the second floor for the elevator that takes you to the top.

Glass floor for Eiffel Tower - 2013

The Eiffel Tower is about to provide its visitors with a step into dizzying suspension. Soon visitors to the first level will look straight down the Eiffel Tower through a plate of glass instead of looking through the fence. The idea of the architect, Alain Moatti, is to give the impression of floating above Paris.

In its third major renovation since 1889, a portion of the Eiffel Tower’s solid flooring will be transformed into a 1.5m (5 ft) wide platform of glass. An inclined glass barrier is designed to replace the present grilled fencing. The work begins February 2012 and will be available for viewing during the summer 2013.
The present buildings from the 1980s with their mirrored windows will give way to transparent, windowed buildings to give the visitor the sense of openness into the surrounding space. The lateral walls framing the glass façades will be painted in the original brown-red color of the Eiffel Tower.

Reminder! Online Eiffel Tower Reservations

More than seven million people visit the Eiffel Tower each year. Just a reminder that online reservations are open for business and travelers can avoid the ordeal of waiting in the once inevitable long lines.
Here’s how it works:
• Visitors can make reservations up to one day prior to their visit.
• Create an account with basic information (similar to ordering theater or concert tickets)

• Choose date, time slot, number of visitors, and ages (for prices)

• Tickets are designated for visits EITHER to the Second Floor OR the Top

• Payment is made online (via secure server)

• Ticket must be downloaded and printed out. OR, download the bar code onto cell phone for presentation.

• Visitors with e-tickets simply go to the designated area at the Tower, according to time and date.

• NOTE: Visitors who wish to climb the stairs to the top do not need to pre-purchase tickets.
EIFFEL TOWER RESERVATION WEB SITE:
www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/index.html

Birthday Light Show For Eiffel Tower's New year

In honor of its 120th birthday and the new decade, the Eiffel Tower is offering its first New Year light show on Thursday night. If you're in Paris, you can watch it from the Trocadero side. If not, the spectacle will be presented live on a special internet site.
http://31decembreaparis.com/ 

 the show starts at 11pm Paris time . You get an idea in the video posted above ( click on the site and then click on La Video du 31 to get a preview) . It is a special version of a display that has been running over the Christmas period which uses 400 high technology flood-lights and four-color LEDs. It ends with a 10-minute count-down to midnight

 
 
 

Eiffel Tower - Advance Ticket Sales - Finally!

Finally, not having to wait in line to purchase your tickets to enter the Eiffel Tower!

Soon to be available to all visitors are an on-line booking sight by the Eiffel Tower Monument.

Choose the day and time of your visit (depending on availabilities), pay using the secure server, print out your ticket at home…
*Only 200 entrance tickets on sale each day
for the second floor, except weekends,
and limited periods of time.
Purchase of a supplemental tickets for
the top floor available at Tower ticket booths.

RATES
FROM APRIL 4, 2009 TO MARCH 26, 2010 Adults

Elevator entrance tickets
(to second floor) 8.00 €
Elevator entrance tickets
to top floor 13.00
Stair entrance tickets
(to second floor)4.50 € 3.50 € 3.00 €