Eiffel Tower security guards found two US men early in the morning in a non-public spot between the second and third floors of the 330-metre-tall tower, apparently after sleeping off a drinking binge the night before.
Expert assessments of the state of the iconic Paris tower, built in 1889, have for several years raised the alarm over the decay caused by rust and warned that a full repair of the structure is necessary, instead of cosmetic repainting ahead of the 2024 Olympic games in the French capital, according to French media reports.
Nathan Paulin, 27, thrilled crowds as he successfully crossed the River Seine from the Eiffel Tower, balancing himself on a 600-metre-long slackline at a height of 70 metres, saying afterwards that the feat 'wasn't easy' but that it 'was still beautiful'.
The Eiffel Tower was evacuated on Monday afternoon after a man in jeans and a jacket was seen trying to scale with bare hands the last stage of the 324-metre-tall Paris landmark which last week celebrated its 130th anniversary.
A 19-year-old who was arrested when he attempted a knife attack on soldiers guarding the Eiffel Tower on Saturday, which he claimed was in support of the Islamic State group, has been returned to a psychiatric hospital from where he was on short-term release after he was deemed unfit to face prosecution.
The illumination of the Eiffel Tower in Paris was switched off on Tuesday evening in a tribute, alongside landmarks around the globe, to the victims of the terrorist attack in Manchester late Monday which killed 22 people and wounded 59 others.