I’ve been looking at trains schedules the last few days and was ready to buy our tickets from Paris to Bayeux for May 9th. There is a non-stop train that would be perfect timing for us.
Suddenly, plans changed when I read that the rolling strike dates include May 8 & 9th!
So it looks like we need an alternative plan for getting to Bayeux, but want to avoid driving ourselves in Paris.
Do buses run to Bayeux? Or does anyone have suggestions on how to manage this part of our travel? Or how to manage travel during a train strike? We have never been to France before and are making our own arrangements, so we’re a bit nervous on how to proceed!
Posted by
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
The problem is the uncertainty. The strike issues might be resolved by then. Also, many trains still run on strike days; at least they have during past strikes. Two years ago we had Paris-Bordeaux TGV tickets for what turned out to be a strike day. We were notified by email that our train was cancelled, and that we could either get a full refund or could take any other train on that route that day. We chose to take another train, and got to Bordeaux only a little later than we had planned. It helped that that route has a lot of scheduled trains, and the majority of them were still running. I don't know how many Paris-Bayeux trains there are; you might want to look into that.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10632 posts
Today, the first SNCF strike day, the SNCF counted 35.4% of employees out on strike. The unions may give different figures later in the day, but for you, a visitor, it shows that everything is not shut down 100%. So, you may want to do as Robert did a couple years ago. We have a train in two weeks on a strike day and will hop any train that’s running if ours isn’t.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks to both of you to help us make a decision on what to do. We will go ahead and book the first direct train scheduled that day.
There is one more direct route that day and if the strike is still on, we may get lucky and be able to get on that!
Thanks again👍
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
To avoid the stress and uncertainty, I would stay in Paris on the 9th and travel to Bayeux on the 10th. If you are locked into traveling on the 9th, see if you can rent a car on the outskirts of Paris such as La Defense. The Metro will be running, so you can get out there on Line 1. There will still be traffic jams, but they won't be as bad as in the center of Paris. Once you get out of the city, the drive to Bayeux is not bad.
Posted by
Paris
2466 posts
I would rent a car - but it will be a zoo...