Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, & Return (Paris, Day 3)

Today was our last day in Paris and we began the day by returning to the Eiffel Tower, this time to actually ascend all the way to the top. Upon arriving you get in one line for a bag check, then the line to get your ticket, then a line to actually get on the lift to the second floor. In all, the wait was close to an hour. The lift to the second floor is actually a two level lift and they really pack you in.


Once you arrive to on the second floor (115 m/377 ft) you have to get off the lift and get in another line for the lift to the very top. But before getting in line a snapped a few pictures:
1) Trocadero2) The rest of the Tower
3) ParisThen we got in line for the lift all the way to the top, which was around half an hour wait. But once arriving at the top, the view was spectacular, but so were the wait times.
After departing the Eiffel Tower, we headed over to Notre Dame, which we got audioguides for, which were not very good.
Then it was time to head back to catch the train back to London. The train station was super-crowded due to the ash cloud grounding flights. All Eurostar trains were booked through Wednesday, but we already had tickets. The lines were really bad as the train was fully booked and I don't think the Eurostar lobby at Gare du Nord was designed to handle that many people at once. In addition, you went through both French and British border control, so that plus security and check-in made the lines move rather slowly.