PARIS Americans are once again visiting the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, French hoteliers said this week. Tourism from the U.S. plunged sharply after the attacks of 9/11 and has been slow to

rebound. But in the first half of this year, the number of American tourists in Paris was up 13.5 percent from the same period last year. “We are nowhere near the record numbers we saw in

2000,” said Paul Roll, director general of the Paris tourist office, “but it does seem that the tourism industry is on the mend.” The effect, however, is largely confined to Paris. Provence

and the Riviera still report far fewer Americans than they saw in the 1990s. A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com SUBSCRIBE TO

best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.