Paris on May 1

I have been in Paris on 1 May - admittedly a very long time ago, hopefully for you things have changed. It is a day of protests and rallies, and clashes between different political groups. We got caught up in a Le Pen rally and could not get out of there fast enough (long story). I can't say where is a good place to avoid but someone here will know the hotspots. Other than that, everything else is closed or on a holiday schedule. Not my favourite time to visit Paris; perhaps a day to have an excursion out of the city. Check the opening hours of Versailles or Monet's garden at Giverny.

Lavandula

Bus and train schedules will probably be different than everyday.

@Lavandula
Was that by any chance in 2002 when the second round of the presidential election was right after May 1st? There were marches to support the candidates or against a candidate. Union marches. My family participated. No problems.

The thing is that at the end of every march, young men dressed in black will damage property and fight the police. But if someone wants to see a march, just don’t hang around for the end to pass by because that’s when young people dressed in black cause trouble.

No, it was in 1999. That's why I was hoping someone else would chime in here, because a lot of things can change in 25 years. But I feel pretty safe in talking about the political rallies. They do this in Germany too. Not that I am normally in Europe in May, but it always seemed a better option to me to stay out of town on 1 May!

We blundered into the Le Pen rally and when we worked out who it was for, the whole rally started moving in the direction we were trying to leave in. Just horrible!

Lavandula

We flew into Paris on May 1st 2019. It was the year of the Jaune Gilet protests. Even though many of the government building were blocked off, the beautiful weather brought everyone out to enjoy. It was very much a pleasant party atmosphere with lots of families celebrating. The TV posted where the protests were, Place de Republique, so it was easy to avoid the area, We loved the chance to see how the holiday was celebrated.

There are 3 major holidays in France when much will be closed: 25 Dec, 1 Jan, and 1 May. Public transportation will operate with reduced schedules. Restaurants and cafés will generally be open.

Note: Thank you Kim for the correction. I was typing just too fast.

Thank you for your replies. I appreciate you all taking the time to give me a better idea of what to expect.

There are 3 major holidays in France when much will be closed: 1 Dec, 1 Jan, and 1 May.

Tocard has a typo - he well knows that it is 25 December, not 1 December, that is one of the top three holidays in France.

Just for anyone subsequently reading the thread so they don't get confused !

the big labor parade is interesting to watch -- but it has become a little more nervous making in recent years. A few years ago we joined in and there were babies in strollers and a party atmosphere. When the Black Bloc acted up the cops adroitly isolated them and re-directed the march one bridge down as a detour. Then a couple of years ago when I was photographing the Black Bloc marchers, I got caught up in the tear gas -- not good. Now we just go watch them assemble which is interesting to watch but don't try to follow along. There will be sausage trucks, puppets and general frivolity at the staging area (last year it was at Place d'Italie, before that when we were there it was at Republic)

But it is easy to avoid demonstrations if you choose -- and if you stumble on one and odn't want to watch, just walk the other way.

Assume things are closed unless you know they are open. Generally restaurants, cafes and small greengrocers are open and some grocery stores, but most things close. And small businesses may take advantage of the week to take the week off for vacation. Last year, our favorite small restaurant in the 13th closed that week as did on of the local bakeries.

Thank you so much for your responses. I feel much better now! I really wasn't sure what to expect but it sounds like it should be easy to avoid the possibility of any conflicts. I appreciate your time!

yes and the demonstrations are not violent or 'conflict' generally speaking -- this is a giant labor day party for the most part -- except for the handful of disruptors in the Black Bloc which you can identify as they are in fact dressed in black and often masked. It is easy to steer clear. my snapshots were not worth two elderly people groping their way for a wall blinded by tear gas -- not our finest hour. Luckily I keep those small disposable eye drops in my purse and so we could rinse our eye when we found a wall to lean on. but this sort of thing is totally avoidable by not being an idiot.