Two best friends visiting Paris, France, were hoping to take a photo of themselves against the iconic backdrop of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, but they forgot an important detail.

Jac Eisdorfer and Ashley Brooke headed to Paris last November as part of a well-deserved girls’ trip sandwiched between their busy work schedules.

Europe is an increasingly popular option for vacationing Americans. An analysis of booking data conducted by travel insurance company Allianz Partners found that the number of Americans traveling to Europe in 2024 is on track to be 34% higher than the previous year. Paris is particularly popularthe French capital ranking second in the same study’s list of the 10 most popular summer European destinations, just behind London.

Brooke is an actress, singer and dancer who recently starred as Margot Frank in the Emmy-nominated Disney+ series. A little light and has a variety of television and Broadway credits under his belt. “I started my career at age 7, and since then I have played all kinds of roles on stage and screen,” she said. News week.

Eisdorfer, meanwhile, is a postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers University and holds a Ph.D. in bioengineering, biomechanics and neuroscience. “My research examines movement after spinal cord injury (paralysis) using unsupervised computer modeling (AI),” Eisdorfer said. News week.

Even though their professional lives couldn’t be more different, the two friends regularly meet up on social networks to post content on TikTok under the nickname @nonsensewaffles.

Eisdorfer said they started posting as an excuse to spend more time together. She added: “We laugh so much when we hang out, and we thought our fun and relatable experiences would be appreciated by others.”

One such experience occurred during their visit to Paris. “Jac was invited to an event by a friend in London, which prompted the trip,” Brooke said. “We decided to also go to Paris because we both love the city and it is easily accessible by Eurostar (train).”

They had both been to Paris before and therefore largely avoided all the usual tourist destinations like the Louvre or the Musée d’Orsay. “We wanted to enjoy things we hadn’t had the opportunity to do before,” Brooke said. “We went to Ô Chateau for wine flights, to Fotoautomat at the Palais de Tokyo for photo booth photos and to Le Marais for shopping in the boutiques and thrift stores.”

Although they ended up visiting the Champs-Élysées, it wasn’t until their last night that they decided to visit Paris’ most famous landmark, with one specific caveat.

“Ashley wanted see the Eiffel Tower at night and I’ve been talking about the twinkling lights for a long time. So on our last night we went there,” Eisdorfer said.

Because they were staying further out of town and close to the Paris metro stops, which is the equivalent of the Paris metro, they decided to take a taxi to get there.

Unfortunately, what the friends didn’t take into account was the weather. So when they arrived at the Eiffel Tower for their big moment, they were stunned to find that it was late and the lights had been turned off.

“Unfortunately, we tried to save the best for last and go see the twinkling lights on our last evening. We thought we would end the trip with a little magic. Rookie mistake,” Eisdorfer said.

“We’re so used to New York that we didn’t know things were going to shut down at night,” Brooke said. “We were very disappointed, but we also laughed about it the next moment because, of course, we would do something so stupid,” Eisdorfer said. “The important thing is that we are together,” Brooke added.

It was Brooke who decided they should document what happened in a TikTok. “This was caused by Jac’s face accidentally being recorded while we were walking around the dark Eiffel Tower,” Brooke said. “I just thought it was all so funny and relatable.”

The result video captures Brooke and Eisdorfer admiring a decidedly bleak Eiffel Tower nearby and ends with Brooke, looking dejected, holding a blinking model of the monument.

Despite the absence of the Eiffel Tower, they managed to take a photo with it in the background the next morning. It may not have been what they wanted, but their visit to the Eiffel Tower turned out to be an unexpected highlight.

“Sometimes laughing at mistakes makes the best memories,” Brooke said. Eisdorfer added: “When we look back on our trip decades from now, we will remember how much we laughed that we didn’t take 5 minutes to do it. Google if the Eiffel Tower closes at night.”