Strike in France--Plan B

Karen. Assuming the metro will be a no go. You might consider, the technique we tried in Rome. We took a cab each day to our furthest location of the day. The Borghese or the Vatican Museum. Then walked back to the hotel taking in the sites along the way.

im in paris now, scheduled to leave thursday. its one worry after another: will the taxi have enough fuel to get me to the airport? will the airport have enough fuel to fly me out of here? will terrorists strike? paris is lovely and wonderful; but i could do without this part of the adventure.

If you absolutely must be back at work on Monday, then it might be best to stay in Paris. The transit strike continues and southern France has some areas that have been hard hit. Marseilles in particular. I would not recommend driving because the gas situation has reached critical per the UK media. (The French spin is laughable as the minister of Transport has said no stations are dry - they're just holding back gas for special customers - yet you couldn't get diesel in my area after Saturday morning. None on the rest stops along the autoroutes either as reported by friends) If you wanted to leave Paris, rent a car and pick some place closer that you know you can get to/from on one full tank of gas.

My husband and I were scheduled to leave 10/19 for 2 week first trip to Paris for 4 days then Normandy, Loire Valley for a week and back to Paris for 3 days. We cancelled yesterday afternoon after contacting a friend whose father-in-law lives in Paris. She strongly suggested we reschedule which we did for Spring.

Thanks Karen.

Apreciate the updates (please keep them coming). we're scheduled to fly to Paris on Saturday and take the TGV to Provence the following Wednesday.

Still not sure what to do.

Gord

I'm supposed to fly to Paris 10/21, and yesterday I was set on going no matter what. As of this morning, the news is that airlines are being asked to cancel 50% of flights to Paris and the French government has raised the terror alert to red. Never thought I'd say this, but I'm seriously thinking about going somewhere else.

Just talked to my husband again. He made the executive decision that we're NOT going to Provence, mainly because we have to be home on Monday. His 1 hour train ride from the food show ended up being 3 hours. I called the hotel in Provence and cancelled, and they said there would be no penalty. Our last night's hotel in Paris (Hotel du Cadran) appears to have vacancies for the three nights we would have spent in Arles. One other factor is that my husband has never seen all the museums and other sites in Paris. There's plenty to do there. Lots of good food too! Again, I will have a good time:)

The west, south, Paris region, and middle are being hit hard by the fuel shortages. Ten percent of the stations are out of gas according to the figures shown on France2 TV. Dina, you mentioned Marseille but forgot to tell about the garbage collectors being on strike there. It's really bad. Anyone who can postpone, should. My husband is flying out on Air France in a week, changing in Paris for business elsewhere. I hope his flight is canceled so he can avoid all this.

I made it to Paris on 10/19. Took the Air France bus as far as Gare Lyon. Intended to take the taxi the rest of the way, but they wouldn't take me because of the demonstrations ...the roads were blocked. So a Finnish girl and I figured out the Metro together. We're NOT going to Provence. I'm so happy we're not renting a car because it would take hours to fill the car. We're going to have a good time; it'll just be different than we planned.

We are having a good day in Paris. Museums are open, food is tasty, and the weather is good. Given the size of yesterdays parade, I would guess that this crisis will not be resolved any time soon.

Good that the stay in Paris is going well for you, that the museums are open and that you can still get around by Metro or the bus system. That's what I do when I want to avoid the Metro. You're in Paris at a historical moment...I'm envious.

After a few days of back-and-forth about going to Paris from London next week, I decided to go. I have reserved a hotel in the Marais, which may be away from disturbances. If there is no public transportation in Paris, I will walk. I can get to my hotel from Gare du Nord on foot, if necessary.

Gare de Lyon is a walkable distance from my hotel, if it comes to that. It seems that the Metro is running now, so I'll hope that continues. I have a few flexible days before I have to be somewhere else. Trains, please keep running.

So glad you are having a good time and not being affected by the disruptions. Bon voyage. Keep the posts coming!

Swan,
Would be very interested to hear how your plans progress. We're scheduled to fly into Paris next Tuesday the 26th... no clue if the strikes will still be going on or what the effects will be at that time, but I'm definitely getting a little anxious.
Did receive an email from an acquaintance who lives in Paris... she says her only experience of the strikes has been long lines at the gas pumps and some delays/cancellations for friends flying in and out of Paris.
We shall see!

I've been in Paris during strikes and demonstrations. They have been limited to an area or one system. This situation seems more widespread and serious. I have guessed that by staying away from the Latin Quarter (students) and government buildings (in the 6th & 7th) I may be able to enjoy Paris without all the excitement. There's plenty to do and enjoy in the 4th (Marais) for a couple of days. I'll be there the 27th and 28th of October.

Norma-I'm not so sure that taking a taxi to the airport is the best idea, since as you said, who knows if the taxi will even have enough fuel to get to the airport (and also, who knows what kind of traffic snarls it might get caught up in). We left Paris on Monday and we took the RER B to the airport. Of course, it depends on where you are staying. We were staying in the 5th and normally our route would be to hop on the RER-B and a straight shot to the airport. They changed things around a bit-on the way to the airport everyone had to get off at Gare du Nord and use an alternate RER B train to get to the airport. The first train was too full to get on but we were able to get on the one that left ten minutes later. It was very confusing to figure out at first but we got to the airport two hours ahead of our flight and got out just fine. I can't remember exactly how long it took to get to the airport from the moment we left our hotel, but it was an hour and a half max. Go to france24.com/en and every other day or third day they post a guide for travelers that gives up to date info on what percentage of trains are running on which lines, how things are going at the airport, etc. Good luck!

Today we went to the Louvre & Notre Dame (among a few other places). We did not see anything related to the strike. From what I saw on TV, things might be quiet until 10/28 when more demonstrations are planned. We plan to take the taxi to the airport on Sunday. Today the Metro, RER, buses & cabs are running with no problems. I think that the France 24 website is probably your best source of information. BTW: we're staying at the Hotel Cadran in the Rue Cler neighborhood, which is fantastic. Also, my husband bought the Rick Steves Paris guide for his Kindle at the last minute. The paper copy is much better for traveling.