Latest on French strike(s) please
Nov 16th, 2007, 06:09 PM
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Latest on French strike(s) please
Okay, so the vote today was for the strike to continue into Monday. When we arrive then, we can get from the airport to the hotel and we were planning on walking alot, but what about hotel services, restaurants, stores? Are they all running as usual or are alot of employees staying home causing the shuttering of any "non transport-related activities? Alot of New Yorkers stay home when there's a strike in transport. Also, have taxi rates skyrocketed, should you find one? Given the exchange rate, we'd like to enjoy our week as much as possible. I hope someone there or with friends they have contacted can help on these questions.
Finally, what is the latest on the Tuesday strike of govt. workers? It there a chance that will last more than a day? Will this close all museums or only a few?
There's very little to find on Google news so thanks to anyone responding to this!
Finally, what is the latest on the Tuesday strike of govt. workers? It there a chance that will last more than a day? Will this close all museums or only a few?
There's very little to find on Google news so thanks to anyone responding to this!
Nov 16th, 2007, 08:27 PM
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Hi Windance
The shops, museums and restaurants are open, maybe not as many staff as usual, but I found Paris isn't shut down as such. People are making super human efforts to get to work, as they want to work!! Some taking three hours or more to get in for their jobs. They don't have special priviliges but they pull together (many with low wages and no benefits).
At the moment it seems the strikes are continuing but I read 64% of the strikers have gone back to work. The union bosses can sense the tide of the public's disgust at their behavior.
Yesterday I found the metros and buses working, but some with very few and far between trains.
Depending where your hotel is, if it's central, you will be walking every where anyway (with or without the strikes). Your hotel concierge could ring a museum or two in advance to see if they are open, but usually they are.
I hope this helps.
The shops, museums and restaurants are open, maybe not as many staff as usual, but I found Paris isn't shut down as such. People are making super human efforts to get to work, as they want to work!! Some taking three hours or more to get in for their jobs. They don't have special priviliges but they pull together (many with low wages and no benefits).
At the moment it seems the strikes are continuing but I read 64% of the strikers have gone back to work. The union bosses can sense the tide of the public's disgust at their behavior.
Yesterday I found the metros and buses working, but some with very few and far between trains.
Depending where your hotel is, if it's central, you will be walking every where anyway (with or without the strikes). Your hotel concierge could ring a museum or two in advance to see if they are open, but usually they are.
I hope this helps.
Nov 17th, 2007, 01:11 PM
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Thank you so much for your reply. I emailed the concierge at our hotel, near the Madeleine, who candidly responded that the city was a mess and that taxis, should we need one to get to dinner, were impossible to book. Also, that the impending strike on the Tuesday would shut down alot more. I just read on the 'net that some unions want to extend into that Tuesday strike. Sigh. I'm leaning toward cutting our loses and canceling this trip. I need to decide by Sunday a.m.
Nov 17th, 2007, 01:26 PM
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No question that getting around the city other than on foot will be difficult, but not impossible. If you can read French, the RATP website tells you the latest news about the transport situation and and projections for the next day: http://ratp.fr/
Currently they are indicating that for Sunday Nov.18 Métro line 1 will be operating an average of 2 trains out of 3, i.e. about 66% of regular service, while other lines (except 14, which is entirely automated) will be operating on average only 1 out of 5, or 20% of regular service.
I was in Paris last month during the strike and dinner guests spent over an hour in a taxi trying to get across town, so i discourage you from going anywhere you can't walk to. That said, central Paris is quite small. If a particular museum, store or restaurant is closed for a day or two, you can probably find another that's open.
Currently they are indicating that for Sunday Nov.18 Métro line 1 will be operating an average of 2 trains out of 3, i.e. about 66% of regular service, while other lines (except 14, which is entirely automated) will be operating on average only 1 out of 5, or 20% of regular service.
I was in Paris last month during the strike and dinner guests spent over an hour in a taxi trying to get across town, so i discourage you from going anywhere you can't walk to. That said, central Paris is quite small. If a particular museum, store or restaurant is closed for a day or two, you can probably find another that's open.
Nov 17th, 2007, 01:33 PM
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I forgot to say the RATP website indicates that for Sunday 40% of the bus system will be working, but the RER lines A and B will be "très fortement perturbées", so avoid trying to use it.
There is another thread running at the moment with posts from people now in Paris, mostly saying they're doing fine.
There is another thread running at the moment with posts from people now in Paris, mostly saying they're doing fine.
Nov 17th, 2007, 02:20 PM
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You asked about the museums being open because of the civil-service strike on Tuesday ... remember that the Louvre and quite a few other Paris museums are closed on Tuesday anyway. Museums and most stores/restaurants have been operating normally during the transit strike, by the way. I agree with earlier posts: If you don't mind walking a bit and waiting longer than usual for a metro, you shouldn't have much trouble getting around Paris.
Nov 18th, 2007, 08:13 AM
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Windance,
We are in Paris now- arrived Nov13 a-nd will leave on the 20th. We have been getting around with little trouble. We have been walking a lot, but Saturday we started taking the Metro again. The trains seem to be running to all destinations -just not as often and are very packed. On Wednesday the Louvre was open, but some of the areas were not open till 1030 -1100. We were able to see everything. We then walked to the Orsay and it was completely open.
Picasso museum, Seine river cruises, NotreDame, all shops--all open. We have not tried to take any taxis as the streets aree very crowded and Im sure the time factor would really raise the rates,
Only down side is that today it is really COLD so make sure you dress appropriatly.
You will have a great time.
Jean
We are in Paris now- arrived Nov13 a-nd will leave on the 20th. We have been getting around with little trouble. We have been walking a lot, but Saturday we started taking the Metro again. The trains seem to be running to all destinations -just not as often and are very packed. On Wednesday the Louvre was open, but some of the areas were not open till 1030 -1100. We were able to see everything. We then walked to the Orsay and it was completely open.
Picasso museum, Seine river cruises, NotreDame, all shops--all open. We have not tried to take any taxis as the streets aree very crowded and Im sure the time factor would really raise the rates,
Only down side is that today it is really COLD so make sure you dress appropriatly.
You will have a great time.
Jean
Nov 18th, 2007, 02:52 PM
#10
Nobody knows when a strike will end in France.
The "big" strike is on November 20th and will probably get some of the strikers more worked up if it is a success; they will want to continue to strike if they can survive the lack of salary for the unworked strike days.
The "big" strike is on November 20th and will probably get some of the strikers more worked up if it is a success; they will want to continue to strike if they can survive the lack of salary for the unworked strike days.
Nov 19th, 2007, 01:45 AM
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The transit situation today is about the same as the past few days, to wit:
Almost all Metro lines are running, though on reduced schedules. (for details see www.ratp.fr )Most suburban Paris train lines are operating, with the notable exception of the RER B serving CDG airport. However, the Roissybus is now back in service.
Outside Paris, the TGV, Corail and TER trains are still on a reduced schedule, but better than last week.
As for the civil servants' strike on Nov. 20 ... predictions are that it will be quite widespread, so don't count on being able to visit public museums and monuments that day.
However, I doubt the transit situation will deteriorate. More than half of transit workers are already back on the job, and everyone now seems ready to negotiate. So, on Tuesday (when the Louvre and many museums would be closed anyway) you could visit a private museum such as the Fondation Cartier, one of my favorites.
And happily, the weather has warmed up considerably since the weekend which was unseasonably cold!
Almost all Metro lines are running, though on reduced schedules. (for details see www.ratp.fr )Most suburban Paris train lines are operating, with the notable exception of the RER B serving CDG airport. However, the Roissybus is now back in service.
Outside Paris, the TGV, Corail and TER trains are still on a reduced schedule, but better than last week.
As for the civil servants' strike on Nov. 20 ... predictions are that it will be quite widespread, so don't count on being able to visit public museums and monuments that day.
However, I doubt the transit situation will deteriorate. More than half of transit workers are already back on the job, and everyone now seems ready to negotiate. So, on Tuesday (when the Louvre and many museums would be closed anyway) you could visit a private museum such as the Fondation Cartier, one of my favorites.
And happily, the weather has warmed up considerably since the weekend which was unseasonably cold!
Nov 19th, 2007, 04:52 AM
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Just a personal gripe here ... there are a lot of erroneous reports circulating about the French strikes, such as this one (from Agence France Presse of all places!). No metro? I took the metro several times over the weekend. No bus? I took one this morning. No way to get to Versailles? Trains are running there as we speak.
PARIS, Nov 19, 2007 (AFP) - Tourists braving a trip to Paris despite a crippling transport strike are finding that slogging around the cold November streets on foot soon takes the romance out the City of Love.
"The strike is okay, but we had to walk for miles," said Myriam Gonzales from Spain's Canary Islands, one of thousands of overseas visitors trying to make the best of a badly-timed getaway.
"It's really a huge problem because there's no metro, no bus, and taxis are hard to find. We wanted to see the Palace of Versailles, but gave up.
PARIS, Nov 19, 2007 (AFP) - Tourists braving a trip to Paris despite a crippling transport strike are finding that slogging around the cold November streets on foot soon takes the romance out the City of Love.
"The strike is okay, but we had to walk for miles," said Myriam Gonzales from Spain's Canary Islands, one of thousands of overseas visitors trying to make the best of a badly-timed getaway.
"It's really a huge problem because there's no metro, no bus, and taxis are hard to find. We wanted to see the Palace of Versailles, but gave up.
Nov 19th, 2007, 02:47 PM
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Hey everyone! We bailed Sunday morning, deciding to pay the ticket penalty (we had sale-priced business class seats) and spend Thanksgiving home with the family. I hadn't prebooked anything besides hotel and a couple of nice dinners, which were easy to cancel. I just didn't see us schlepping around in cold rain all week. The concierge at the hotel had emailed a couple of times over the weekend and told us it was a mess with no end in sight. A friend with family and friends there told me the same. We'll go in the spring and maybe make up the penalty with an improved exchange rate. Or, maybe not.
I hope everyone there now or arriving shortly does have a wonderful time and the weather is better than forecast. Happy Thanksgiving, no matter where you celebrate. We woke up to 4 inches of snow at home this a.m. Hey, you never know!
I hope everyone there now or arriving shortly does have a wonderful time and the weather is better than forecast. Happy Thanksgiving, no matter where you celebrate. We woke up to 4 inches of snow at home this a.m. Hey, you never know!
Nov 19th, 2007, 02:53 PM
#15
Due to the control of 90% of the news media by big business, they always try to paint as grim a picture as possible in order to provoke a conservative revolt.
When you consider the fact that even the left wing daily <i>Libération</i> is controlled by Edmond de Rothschild, there is no reason to expect independent reporting anywhere.
When you consider the fact that even the left wing daily <i>Libération</i> is controlled by Edmond de Rothschild, there is no reason to expect independent reporting anywhere.
Nov 19th, 2007, 11:25 PM
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We've been in Paris since last Wed. It was cold for the first few days but also was beautiful and sunny. It has warmed up but also cloudy and looks like rain. We've been to Louvre and Orsay:both open except closed 1/2 hour to & & hour early. We prefer to walk so we have done a lot of it. We've taken several metros and buses. As others have said they many lines are running but on a reduced schedule. We've seen no impact on shops due to strike. It did take us " hours to get into Paris from CDG. We leave Friday and hope things are back to normal so we can take the RER.
Nov 20th, 2007, 02:21 AM
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The transit situation in Paris is about the same as yesterday, i.e. there is reasonably good metro and bus service, but the RER B to CDG airport is still not running.
One additional complication today ... some air traffic controllers have joined the civil-service strike, which is causing 30 to 45 minute flight delays at CDG and Orly airports.
One additional complication today ... some air traffic controllers have joined the civil-service strike, which is causing 30 to 45 minute flight delays at CDG and Orly airports.
Nov 20th, 2007, 05:15 AM
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Arrived Paris this am. We actually got into CDG early, so no air traffic controller issues. We haven't taken the metro yet, but did venture down into the Trocadero station to check things out. We discovered a small benefit to the strike. The metro is free. Now if the rain would only stop.
