Paris is always a good idea, but breaking and entering never is.
Two male American tourists went well beyond midnight in Paris with a drunken impromptu sleepover atop the Eiffel Tower.
The pair were found asleep inside the tower on Monday morning by Eiffel Tower security after getting “trapped” inside the structure “due to their excessive alcohol consumption,” after entering the landmark on Sunday evening, Paris prosecutors told CNN.
The pals gained access to the structure when they purchased an entry ticket around 10:40 p.m. and climbed to the top of the tower, a police source told CBS News. On the way down, though, they jumped over security barriers and spent the night between the tower’s second and third levels in a spot typically closed to the public.
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The two were discovered before the site opened for the day at 9 a.m., forcing the attraction to open an hour later than usual.
The Eiffel Tower operates from 9 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. with a last admission at 11:45 p.m., according to Eiffel Tickets.
Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Tourists queue at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.
According to Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), which operates the tourist attraction, the pair were removed from the premises and handed over to police.
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Although the wanderers presented “no threat,” SETE plans to press charges for the intrusion. Still, Paris prosecutors aren’t planning on fining the pair for trespassing as “no damage was found,” the prosecutors’ office told CNN.
At this time there’s no word on the whereabouts of the two Eiffel Tower sleepers.
