Civil Unrest in France

I'm in Paris right now. There is a lot of posts about this already. Bottom line is: there is no concern related to personal safety provided you do not join demonstrations. There is no such thing as "randomly stumbling upon a demonstration turned violent", there is always a buildup (crowds, police presence, etc).
However, urban transit and intercity train disruptions can be bothersome. If you need to travel between Paris and Lyon in the coming weeks, book on Trenitalia and cancel your SNCF tickets if you can. That will make you strike-proof.

I have not been there, but belong to a Facebook page, Paris Travel Tips, and people who are visiting have been posting information about the current protest situations. It's kind of a mixed bag or circumstances, based on location. Here are some posts quotes:
"PROTEST UPDATE: we heard only one siren all day and saw no groups. It’s 10 pm now and I’ve heard a couple sirens, but it’s pretty quiet so far.
GARBAGE: it’s warming up a bit so where there are piles there were some odors but we took it in stride.
Most of the people I’ve spoken with were both apologetic for the show of garbage and also in support of the protests. I overheard one shopkeeper tell the other to have courage and take care. I’m deliberately not showing more pictures of the damage or the garbage. "
"My 14-year old daughter and I are in Paris right now and I wanted to share a few things:
- we feel very safe and have not seen a protest, nor has our trip been impacted "
"For those of you wondering about Paris and the different strikes and protests. In regards to the train strike, yes, I have been inconvenienced and had to change a train back from Normandy/Bayeux, making that trip shorter than planned. There is stinky trash in most areas, although I first stayed in the 1st, there is none to little, then I moved to the 18th and it's everywhere. Someone mentioned that they didn't see any graffiti/tags, it really depends on where you are. None to little in the 1st, in the other areas, I've seen it regularly, even on the drive from CDG to Paris. The protests - some are writing that it's not a problem, they are not staying in the route of the protests. My husband and I accidently got stuck near one at Place de la Republique and that one came straight to where our hotel is in Montmartre/Paris Opera. Tear gas, broken glass, gendarmes everywhere. In every area of Paris, the sirens are relentless. I know, there are some of you that will say I'm half glass full. I'm a realist, this is what is happening here. While it's still ok to get around and visit (although the metro was barely running yesterday and both Eifel and Versailles were closed), you will need to be ready for adjusting your schedule and be okay with the trash, protests, sirens and gendarmes. AND thank you for this group, as I learned a lot of good tips and tricks here. I will try to add pictures to this post shortly. Merci!"

There are maps on line that show the garbage situation. I was pleased to see that the district I will be staying in is one of the ones with no garbage problems since they are not part of city trash pick up.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful information on the situation in France. We are scheduled to arrive in Paris on 4/27, spend the night near Gare Lyon, and take a train to Annecy on 4/28. We'll take the train to Lyon on 5/1 and return to Paris for the flight home on 5/13. I'm not worried about my safety, but I am concerned about transportation during our trip. We have no plans to cancel, but we want to be as prepared as we can be to handle whatever comes up.

Someone mentioned travel insurance. Many policies do not cover civil unrest so you probably want to check your policy before making any decisions.

From what I could find on-line (and it was dated 2019) arr 2,5,6,8,9,12,14,16 & 17 have municipal trash collection. The other ten are privately contracted.

My sister and I will be staying in the 19th for two weeks, starting May 10, so we're hoping the trash situation won't be as awful out there. Keeping our fingers crossed.....if anyone has updated information about the Paris situation or Lyon (where we go after that) please share!

THANK YOU for the reccomendation to change our train tickets to Trenitalia to avoid any strikes. We got impacted by a train strike the last time we were there. I was forced to drive the rental car from the Dordogne region all the way back to Paris....an experience I desperately DON'T want to have to repeat!

It looks as though where I stay in the 10th Arron the trash is privately collected, if it will be at all....a minor in convenience when I am there at the end of May.