France, well Paris in particular experienced some frightful weather conditions over the past week and weekend. There was heavy snowfall along with freezing rain, which caused a number of difficulties within the city of love, where many couples were celebrating an early Valentine’s Day.
All these couples in love were disappointed that the Eiffel Tower was forced to close on Friday and over the weekend due to the intense weather conditions and thus stopping them from experiencing the world’s most romantic site. The company in charge of the Eiffel Tower said that the reason that they closed the major tourist attraction was that the weather got so bad that it may have affected visitors safety, causing slippery stairs and snowy platforms.
The weather was said to have dangerously affected a quarter of the entire country, with not just Paris feeling the icy effects, causing hundreds of drivers to be stuck on roads in some of the worst traffic jams the city has ever seen. Paris residents were urged by officials to try and stay off the roads until weather conditions improved.
The Eiffel Tower’s stairs and platforms were de-iced by workers, which is a tedious task, as the ice needs to be removed by hand, using shovels, to ensure that no damage is done to the elevators or the metal of the Eiffel Tower itself.
Although it was a pity that tourists could not go up the famous Eiffel Tower, the snow still made for a picturesque weekend and many couples were spotted taking photos in the snow with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Tourists and locals alike took to snowboarding and building snowmen over the weekend.
The Eiffel Tower re-opened to the public on Sunday morning at their usual opening time of 09:30, which gave weekend visitors one last chance to see the Eiffel Tower in all its glory and take a few snaps from the tower itself.