Our guide John was informative ( as expected ) but also quite funny. He was also very considerate of all in our group even though his leg calves must be stronger than the Iron lady herself:-). A great asset to the Experience first TEAM.
Lekshmi was our tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and was very kind and supportive. She taught about all the important information and made it the best even with the wind. Definitely would take the tour again.
Our guide Sid was great. He was knowledgeable, funny and made sure to involve everyone in the group. He also made sure to recognize everyone in their native language when he could.
Joe was great! Very animated and holds your attention. The waiting in line for tickets was made clear when we purchased but would be nice for a skip the Line option
Firstly, I must say the Eiffel Tower itself is marvellous and a definite for anyone's itinerary when visiting Paris; absolutely loved it despite personal issues with heights - just don't waste your time with this 'tour'. This was included in with the Paris Pass, which is why I went, and I also paid an extra 15 Euros to upgrade to go to the summit. If I had known what I know now I would have gone independently - it would have only cost me 7 Euros more and saved me a LOT of time. Call me naive, but having booked the 'tour' and paid for an upgrade I was expecting (as was everyone else in the group) a speedy entry so we could get down to business. Imagine our collective surprise after our guide had finished his 15-min introductory spiel (albeit starting on time at 9.30) as we were led to the back of the long queue for visitors WITHOUT tickets waiting to pass the security check. Those who had timed entries swanned past us. To add insult to injury, the guide then put most of the group in an even slower moving line meaning there was another wait once through security for everyone to catch up. Once inside and under the tower we had a much needed 10 min comfort break before the next installment of the spiel - this time accompanied by some pictures inside an A4 pocket folder. This was interrupted after another 10 mins or so when the guide decided that we better get into the colossal queue for tickets and carry on the talk there... just our luck to be behind a group of 70+ kids on a school trip! My Paris Pass conveniently recorded the time when it was scanned by the group leader - 9.05am (we were advised to check in 30 mins prior to start). It was exactly 11.16am when we finally reached the bottom of the stairs to start our climb. So altogether I'd estimate that this disorganised shambles cost me at least an hour and a half in wasted time. It's billed as the way to experience the Tower as it was meant to be - i.e. climbing the stairs - but I would take the elevator if there is ever a next time. You don't 'experience' much going up the stairs and you don't really get to see a lot until you reach the different levels - plus there are people coming past you or wanting to move ahead in what is a fairly narrow space. Our guide left us after further blurb on the first level and that was fine by me. We could then get on and do as we pleased. I only wish we'd done that to begin with...