A woman skis on the snow-covered Montmartre hill in front of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris. Meteo France put the greater Paris region on alert for snow and black ice on roads, among 36 departments on alert across the country. Meanwhile, the Eiffel Tower turned away tourists yesterday as snow swept across northern France, snarling trains and giving the capital its first real dose of wintry weather this season. Rail operator SNCF has had to slow down trains on several of its high-speed TGV lines, with service disrupted across much of northern France.