COP 21 transportation disruptions 29-30 November 2015
 

The Minister of the Interior has requested that no private vehicles be used in the city of Paris on Sunday and Monday. The A1 and A16 autoroutes will be closed at certain hours, as well as the western section of the périphérique ring road. This will be extremely important for people going to or from CDG on those days. Take the RER!

All public transportation will be free on 29 & 30 November.

The huge climate demonstration scheduled for 29 November and planned by environmental groups all over the world for the last six months has been forbidden, but I would be extremely surprised if certain spontaneous actions did not occur all over the city on Sunday.

While I know it's a pain for those of you who live there, I would love to see Paris with a lot fewer cars.

Kerouac,

What does this mean for airport shuttles, etc. for those of us with too much luggage for the RER?

You may discover the delights of the A104 towards Bobigny and come into Porte de Bagnolet on the A3 after a few hours in the traffic jam.

Agghh!

I would imagine it depends on your shuttle. There is a public one,, Roissybus that goes to the opera. IF routes are closed, they may just go by a different route, that's all. I certainly wouldn't take a taxi as who knows how long it could take. I imagine the Air France bus also could just take a different route.

I read the announcement on the prefecture of police's website and it doesn't say private vehicles cannot enter the city, it just announced the closures of various routes on different days and advised people to take public transport. The mayor and interior minister just asked people not to use their personal cars on those days, which was different wording from no private vehicles allowed, at least in the places I read it.

There really shouldn't be such a thing as too much luggage for the RER, although if you have to transfer a lot between RER stop and hotel, or are not even that close to a metro/RER stop, it surely would be a pain. But the RER no doubt will be terribly packed and there is a problem in that it doesn't have a lot of luggage space (no overhead racks). Normally, you just can fit your bags into the ends of the car or those spaces for standing iof it isn't too packed, or even in the aisle next to your seat if it's on the last part where no one gets on or seats are full. I don't pack that light, but took the RER last trip and I had a purse/small tote bag (which I could hold in my lap), and a 25 inch suitcase which easily fit into that open space, along with many other people. That should be enough luggage for any normal vacation.

More details have come out.

Sunday closing of the A1 from CDG to Paris, western périphérique and A106 and A6 from Orly to Paris will be from 16:00 to 22:00, as well as the right bank expressway in the city.

Monday the closing starts at 06:00 and lasts until 21:00 --
A1 from Paris to Le Bourget
western périphérique
an itinerary from Place de la Concorde to Porte d'Asnières via Madeleine and Boulevard Malesherbes.

And of course there will be all sorts of random blockages throughout the day. After all, the heads of state and government of 147 countries will be moving around. Anybody who has been to Paris before has had the opportunity to see that just one head of state can disrupt everything for an hour in a given area.

Since most embassies are in the 7th, 8th and 16th arrondissements, even pedestrians will have problems in those areas.

Thank you for sharing this information Kerouac, I really appreciate it. Looks like our arrival date will avoid this disruption, we'll see what happens on our departure in December.

Remember too that certain Metro/RER stations will be closed and some buses will be rerouted - if they are able to run at all on affected routes.
Along the Champs-Elysees and anywhere near the official meetings, the streets will be barricaded and you will only be allowed to cross at designated areas - often several blocks out of your way.
This is normal and goes on whenever there's anything official.
Just make sure to give yourself much more time than you think you'll need.

Lots of people need more luggage than the ordinary tourist because the whole family is going on a trip lasting a couple of months and which will require clothing to suit drastically different climates. Don't be so hard on them - not everybody can get by with a little black dress and a smile.

Thanks for all the info!

Vélib bikes are also free on 29-30 Nov.

The RATP is pointing out that bus services in the center of the city will be extremely disrupted on these days and that it is preferable to take the metro during most of the day.