A Paris View I’ll Have to Remember

 A Paris View I’ll Have to Remember

Years ago, on an earlier trip to Paris, I went to the top of the Montparnasse Tower. I remember looking out over the city from high above the streets and taking some delightful photographs of Paris stretching toward the horizon.

There is something wonderful about seeing Paris from that perspective. From the top of Montparnasse, the city becomes a tapestry of rooftops, boulevards, monuments, and tiny pockets of green. And, of course, one of the great advantages of the view from Montparnasse Tower is that the Eiffel Tower is actually in your photographs rather than underneath you.

So when I returned to Paris this year, I naturally thought, I should go back.

I was already in the Montparnasse neighborhood and decided to check the observation deck’s opening hours before making my plans.

I am so glad I checked.

Instead of finding today’s hours, I discovered some disappointing news.

The Montparnasse Observation Deck Is Closed

The observation deck at Tour Montparnasse closed to the public on March 31, 2026.

The closure isn’t simply for a few weeks or even a season. The tower is undergoing a major renovation project, and the observation deck is expected to remain closed for several years.

That means that for my visit to Paris in August 2026, there are no opening hours to check and no last elevator to catch. The observation deck simply isn’t accessible to visitors.

So my planned return to the top will have to wait.

I’m disappointed, of course. I had imagined standing there again with a camera in hand, comparing the Paris I photographed years ago with the Paris spread out before me today.

But I’m also grateful that I checked before walking over and expecting to buy a ticket.

And perhaps there is something rather lovely about this unexpected change of plans.

For now, I still have the photographs I made from the top all those years ago. They have suddenly become more meaningful—not merely pictures of a beautiful Paris view, but photographs of an experience that visitors won’t be able to have again for quite some time.

One day, when the renovation is finished and the observation deck finally reopens, perhaps I’ll return to the top for a third chapter.

Until then, I’ll enjoy Paris from ground level—and treasure those delightful photographs from the Paris skyline I was fortunate enough to see from above.


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