Tourists in Paris were disappointed this week to find the Eiffel Tower closed due to a strike.

Story highlights

The Eiffel Tower has been closed for past two days due to a workers strike

Tower is scheduled to resume normal operations on Thursday

Union claims that one of the Tower's lifts still hasn't been renovated, leading to longer lines and impatient visitors

CNN  — 

What’s Vegas without the lights?

What’s Rio without Ipanema?

What’s Paris without the Eiffel Tower?

For the past two days, visitors to the City of Light have had to contend with that last question, touring the French capital while the city’s most famous landmark has been closed due to a workers strike.

To the relief of thousands, normal Tower operations are set to resume on Thursday.

After Wednesday negotiations, the Tower’s management announced the reopening with a terse message on its official website.

“The Eiffel Tower will reopen to the public from Thursday June 27th at 9 a.m.  Thank you for your understanding,” reads the entirety of the official notice.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the company that operates the 324-meter (1,063 feet) structure earlier stated that an agreement to end the strike had been reached with workers on Wednesday night. It didn’t provide details of the terms.

Organized by the General Confederation of Labor union, the strike began on Tuesday morning, with Eiffel Tower employees pressing demands for better working conditions and more pay.

The union claims that one of the Tower’s lifts still hasn’t been renovated, as promised in 2008, leading to longer lines and impatient visitors.

“We’ve been complaining about the handling of maintenance work for several years. It’s had a severe effect on how we cope with visitors and also on our working conditions,” a union representative told Euronews.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, tourists arrived at the Tower only to find it closed. Many had planned to climb to upper viewing platforms. Some wouldn’t leave, wandering around the base of the structure, snapping photographs in front of the girders or “On Strike” posters.

On Thursday, they should be looking up again.