Traveling to Paris in two weeks

No one knows what will be going on in 2 weeks; worst case for transportation, plan on taking a taxi, as those rarely go on strike. I fly in 3 weeks so I'm paying attention too.

We are going then too and not worried about it; the RER B usually runs even during strikes although perhaps fewer trains. WE usually take a taxi and will just wait longer if need be. The French manage demonstrations very well; they are their national sport and I have never felt any concern on previous trips. If you don't want to be entangled in a demonstration, walk the other way. Paris even with garbage and demonstrations is a lot safer than any US city. Your odds of being gunned down are quite low comparatively.

We are going in early May, and I am more "concerned" about the unpleasant garbage on the sidewalks than any protests or transit strikes. We were there in mid December 2019, during the transit strike and large protest rallys that included some fires and violence, but it is pretty easy to avoid that stuff if you pay attention., check the news every morning, ask the hotel front desk, etc.

But I am glad I won't be there for another 6 weeks, hoping for some sort of calm to return. Going no matter what...

Your odds of being gunned down are quite low comparatively.

Umm, who has expressed any concern about being "gunned down"?

Maybe I've missed a comment in other posts regarding this topic, but has anyone compared the situation now to what happened in 2019 during the yellow jacket protests? Is it similar, worse? We were there in 2019 and despite a few roadside protests we went by, it was a non-issue while travelling.

Maybe I've missed a comment in other posts regarding this topic, but has anyone compared the situation now to what happened in 2019 during the yellow jacket protests?

See my comment above yours.

Now to your specific question, I was not in Paris during the yellow vest protests in spring 2019, but I was there during the massive transit strike in mid Dec 2019 that screwed up metro and rail service (and the yellow vests were around then, too, but in smaller numbers), as well as flight cancellations. In 2 weeks we only once encountered a huge, loud, but peaceful mob and had to go around them, but other than not being able to use Metro, we were not overly inconvenienced and we enjoyed our time in Paris.

There were some pretty violent protests with police clashes and fires set to cars and property, but none of it happened near us, and we avoided those areas on days protests were announced.

jojo -- lots of the FEAR FEAR FEAR posts are from Americans whose own country is 1000X more dangerous.

jojo -- lots of the FEAR FEAR FEAR posts are from Americans whose own country is 1000X more dangerous.

America is 1000x more dangerous? Getting "gunned down"? Too much hyperbole, and the only poster I notice expressing this is you.

More importantly, I am not reading "FEAR FEAR FEAR" into any posts from anyone else, American or not. They are asking for information, particularly from people on the ground today. Plus we are fortunate to have several very reliable Parisians who post here, and I find their posts very useful.

People are looking for information, maybe some reassurance, or whatever they need to make decisions such as going or canceling. People have lots of money tied up in these trips, as do I, and I can't blame anyone for canceling, particularly if their trip is in the next week. My trip is in May, and I will be watching carefully if I feel that I need to change my trip plans, although I really am not anticipating the need. But, I won't cross that bridge before I need to...

I live in France and have been trying to travel both within France and to other European countries since January (that's why I'm on this forum) -- working around strike days and guessing as to what might come next. I've been expecting things to calm down for weeks now and making travel plans with that in mind. However, since last week, rather than calming down, the situation just keeps heating up. Where I live, yesterday's strike/demonstration day was markedly different from the previous seven ones. It veered into gilets jaunes territory with similar tactics. The problem with that is unpredictability. As long as the unions were in control of the situation, you could simply work around demonstrations and strike days. The current situation is more complex.

I would still go. I just received this from Les Frenchies - a couple who live outside Paris and have a YouTube channel with helpful information on Paris -

THE REALITY OF THE STRIKES IN PARIS

We've been getting a lot of questions about the strike situation in Paris.

Many of you are very concerned. And after watching the American news, we understand why. They are making it look like the streets of Paris are on fire, with riots everywhere, and mountains of garbage filling the streets.

So here's the truth. The images you are seeing are very far from reality. While the situation is tense, it's not nearly as bad as they are making it look.

Garbage collectors are on strike so it's piling up a bit in some neighborhoods. But they are mandated for safety reasons to pick it up anyway, and the city is using private companies to collect the overflow. It's not ideal, but in St Germain where we filmed all last week, it was barely noticeable. Think of it like extra bags the days after Christmas. And to be fair, we saw a lot of trash near Gare St Lazare last Wednesday but it is being collected on a daily basis.

There have been a couple of scuffles with the police after some protesters set a few pallets on fire at Place de la Concorde last Thursday evening, and again this Saturday evening at Place d'Italie. The scuffle happened after the Police tried to clear both areas. Each area was cleared in under 2 hours. You will see a much heavier police presence right now, but nothing that will ruin your stay. They are planning another general strike this coming Thursday (March 23rd) so it will be a huge mess with transportation, but Colleen and I are planning to be in Paris all day on Wednesday and we don't anticipate any issues.

The biggest issue is with transportation, mainly trains and TER, which are the regional trains that we use to get to Paris from suburban areas (and CDG). The Metro is really a huge mess on the day of the strike so I'd avoid it at all costs that day, especially during rush hour commutes. And if that's the day you land in Paris, I'd take a Taxi and plan on walking that day.

So, while the situation is not ideal, it's not nearly as bad on the ground. Things can change and I'm not making promises that everything is going perfectly during your stay, but the few people we ran into last week told us the same thing: "no big deal"

Allez, on y va! (let's go!)

According to today's WSJ, train drivers were on strike, the Eiffel Tower and Versailles were closed, trains and buses severely curtailed, hundreds of flights cancelled.

119,000 protesters in Paris, 2.5 miles long, it took them 5 hours to get to the end of their protest at Place de l'Opera. They smashed some storefronts and police used some tear gas.

Enjoy your visit! But ultimately, no one has a crystal ball and you have to decide what is best for you. It sounds like your non-refundable reservations have made that decision already.

Someone up thread asked about 2019 and the Jaune Gilets. We happened to land in Paris May 1st 2019, which is International Workers Day or Labor Day). We were aware of what had been going on, so we checked the television before going out, which showed the demonstration route for that day. It wasn’t near us, so we went for a walk. There was heavy police and military presence near Place de la Concorde; the Pont de Concorde and some streets in the area were blocked off and guarded (I think the US embassy is in that area). Our hotel is near Gare St. Lazare and there was evidence of prior demonstrations and boarded up windows from previous days.

That said, at no time did we feel unsafe or regret making that trip, but each person has to decide for themselves and know their own comfort level. We’re headed back to Paris and then an RS tour the end of May. This has reminded me to make sure I know options in case of travel disruptions, but otherwise we’re traveling.

The President and the Unions are meeting on Monday.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/yes-travel-in-france-is-complicated-now

One example of current situation

@morfal. Could you please elaborate on your comment that the last protest was very different from the previous ones, since it “veered into gilet jaunes territory with similar tactics”? What does that mean? I’m not very knowledgeable about the yellow vests.

In rural areas, the "gilets jaunes" tactic was to block entrances/exits to highways -- usually in certain areas on Saturdays. That's exactly what happened on Thursday in my region. Vehicles couldn't move between nearby towns. That meant that people couldn't get to work, delivery trucks couldn't deliver merchandise, etc. Up until Thursday, this year's strike/demonstration activity was limited to bigger cities. That's what I meant by Thursday's demonstration day being dramatically different, at least where I live.

During the gilets jaunes period (2018-2019), I lived in Paris and it looked different there. There were organized/planned marches, again usually on Saturdays, but there were also spontaneous protest groups that formed and then people who joined in to engage in vandalism -- e.g., cars on fire, shop windows smashed (especially banks). It was literally all over the city, even in super touristy places like Montmartre, and totally unpredictable. Life went on, but with a heightened level of hyper-vigilance.

"cars on fire" Those occurrences are not in any way new or striking. In the mid-1990s I saw that on the French news happening in Metz and Strasbourg.... disturbances take place.

The bottom line is in spite of these events: " life went on " (as posted above)

The French expression here is apt: "et alors"