It's Going to Be a Quiet Day at the Eiffel Tower

Wednesday marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Gustave Eiffel, the engineer behind the famous Paris landmark that bears his name. Anyone who wants to visit the Eiffel Tower on the centennial, however, is out of luck: Staff are currently on strike, to protest what their union says is "the current way [the tower] is managed" by operator SETE, per the Local. A tower spokesperson tells the AP that visitors will still be able to access the glass-shielded esplanade underneath the structure, but they won't be able to ascend the 984-foot tower itself.

The strike is taking place as contract negotiations kick off between workers at the site and the city of Paris, which owns the tower. It's not clear how long the strike is expected to last, nor the closure of the Eiffel Tower. The site, which is usually open every day of the year, typically sees about 20,000 visitors a day during the Christmas holiday season. For those looking for other Gustave Eiffel-built structures to visit instead in the French capital, the Guardian rounds up a list. (More Eiffel Tower stories.)