The Eiffel Tower has reopened for business after a fire at the top of the 324-metre structure forced about 3,000 tourists to flee.
Fire broke out on Tuesday evening in a room full of electric cables, spitting out a column of dark smoke. Officials quickly evacuated the surprised tourists and nobody was injured.
"Everything has reopened as normal," a spokeswoman at the tower said shortly after it reopened at 9 a.m.
"There aren't many tourists here right now, but that's normal for this time of day," she said, adding that the third level where the fire broke out would open about one hour late because of last-minute cleaning.
Visitors said they assumed a short circuit at the top of the tower, which houses an important radio and television relay station for the Paris region, caused the fire and acrid smoke, but the spokeswoman could not confirm this.
Broadcasting continued as normal and the tower's newly reinstalled twinkling lights - a popular attraction which Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said played no part in the fire - sparkled on schedule after dark yesterday evening.
The tower, named after its contractor Gustav Eiffel, was built for the 1889 world fair celebrating the centenary of the French Revolution.
Although it was to be torn down afterwards, it turned out to be so popular with meteorologists, military communicators, broadcasters and tourists that the city left it standing.
It now attracts six million visitors a year with its fabulous views of Paris and the winding Seine River below.