Visiting Paris and France in early to mid May

Zero impact. I’ve been here for a week.

The extremely nice guy on the hotel desk mentioned yesterday morning that he’d heard there was to be a protest nearby the hotel starting at 3:30 and just to stay aware of any metro closures. I checked my Citymapper app when I was headed back to the hotel and there were no closures anywhere on the network and I never saw anyone protesting. I headed out to meet friends for dinner again with nothing.

Streets are garbage free.

Metro is crowded. I’ve ridden all over for the last week…at least 2 rides per day and sometimes 3or 4.

I’m a museum hound in Paris and go to about 2 per day. No impact whatsoever. They are fairly crowded in many instances so check on timed entries. I was at the Cluny yesterday and did not have or need a timed entry. It was the least crowded museum I’ve visited.

Lots of school groups out and about this week.

Literally no different than any other time I’ve visited Paris in April. Except I think some of the trees are late to bloom.

May 1st which is Labour Day in parts of Europe is always a march/peaceful protest day for workers and is the next identified date for protests and possible strikes re the pension issue. Many museums etc are closed anyway that day because of it being May 1 but transport may also be impacted. We are arriving May 4 and are preparing for the possibility of transport disruptions.

Thanks for your reporting….it is much appreciated and has lowered my concern level. So, I guess it’s “come over” but caution is always smart. Right?

We are looking forward to our visit in late April/ early May and we have absolutely no concerns. Enjoy your trip!

Will do! Thanks.

We’re also in Paris now and no problems whatsoever. Pam, we’re going to the Cluny today and don’t have a reservation, glad to hear we can walk right in.

@ Barbara - I managed to hit the room with the Lady and Unicorn tapestries with no one else in there. I wish you the same luck!

“So, I guess it’s “come over” but caution is always smart. Right?”

I’m not sure what you mean by caution. Do you mean caution due to protests? Or Covid? Honestly I’m being more cautious due to Covid than anything else. I’m one of the few on transport that is masking but I’ve got a long trip here and want to stay healthy.

Come on over to Paris! Don’t watch American news regarding France. Don’t listen to advice or warnings from friends or family who have not traveled to Europe recently. Once you get here you’ll see things are very normal.

We have been here a couple of weeks and will be here through early May. I have to laugh at people being nervous about travel now especially those from the US where you can't even ring a doorbell safely.

In two weeks we were once inconvenienced when a demonstration closed down the metro line we were on as we headed for dinner with friends. We had to work around the blockage and were delayed half an hour. but in the past we have had metro delays for assorted other reasons e.g. someone left a package on the train (they have a protocol for that that shuts things down for an hour or so) or mechanical issues. Other than that nothing. We glimpsed a demonstration from the bus yesterday. Last year we observed the May Day parade and we will avoid that this year I think -- plan to do something on the other side of town.

I have yet to see a garbage problem although I am staying in a district with private pick up so it has had fewer issues.

Very well said! We’re on our way!

Just returned from 3 weeks in France, including Paris, Reims and Strasbourg.
NO impact at all from strikes. Business as usual! Wonderful trip!