Upcoming strike in France; what to do

Have you thought about flying? You might be able to get a short flight from a smaller French airport or maybe even Orly.

The TGV train from Paris to Torino takes about 5 hours. That would make it a 10 hour round trip. Hardly doable as a day trip.

A nationwide rail strike? We are on our way to Paris Nov. 16 - 25. What does the nationwide strike mean for the metro? More info please. Thanks.

I was in Paris Oct 18-19 during the last transit strike. The Metro closed down for one day then the next day was partially operating. Some trains were running. Apparently the Eurostar didn't cancel many of their trains. The strike was mostly over after two days. I took a taxi to the train station to get back to London. You need more info about who is striking. There were numerous unions involved in the Oct. strike. If I were you, I would change my Paris-Venice reservation to the day BEFORE the announced strike, since trains may be running erratically for several days. How about Googling "France Rail Strike" and seeing what info comes up.

Lois, take a look at the link below from another message board. The gentleman actually has been living in Paris and is very knowledgeable about the strike goings-on.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

Thanks for the info, Angela. It was a big help!

I guess I wasn't being clear in my posting. Thank you for the replies. Aside from sitting it out and taking our chances on November 15, and to not end up losing TWO days in Paris, we could take a train (but not an overnight train) perhaps in the afternoon on Nov. 13 to a town in Italy to get out of France before the strike starts but to allow us the opportunity to continue our train trip to Venice on Nov. 14. That is why I chose Torino because it looked like a main city to travel to from Paris that might make the train trip shorter the day we leave Paris. One other restriction is that our railpass is for France and Italy, not Switzerland, so we cannot take a route that would pass through that country. Also, the main reason for buying our railpass was for that long trip between Paris and Venice. To now try to fly instead of taking the train would be pretty expensive and a last resort for us (especially because of limited transportation to the airport during the strike).

Thanks Kent. I will go to the websites that you mentioned in my posting on the Italy board and check out hotels in Torino. Do you know what the main train station in town is called?

High-speed trains from Paris arrive at Torino's Porta Susa train station. There is another station called Porta Nueva, and it is across town.

To Margaret, Dallas.

It looks like this strike is going to be a big one! The last strike only lasted 24 hours ut the following day the RER was not operating and the Metro was only at 75% capacity.
the strike is for 24 hours (8pm Tuesday to 8pm Wednesday) but it means there will be no trains (except Eurostar) running at all.

Thanks for the info, Paul. We will hope that the strikes will be over with before we arrive in Paris. We are keeping our eye on the situation.

Canceled trip to Paris today because of train strike
I had planned on taking the Thaly from Brussels to Paris on Nov 14, (and going to Picaso museum, Pampadou,and Eiffle tour). Spend the night in the Marais, take the RER to Versaille the next day, then Thaly back to Brussels.
It is my understanding that the strike is scheduled to start on the 13th at 8pm and runs for 24 hours with daily renewals likely.Also that museums will be closed or limited due to metro/bus closings.
I read the link from trip advisor mentioned earlier n this thread and googled train france strike. PREM tickets are non-refundable but rail europe said to have them stamped in europe (I'm leaving this a.m.) as "not used". I guess I may have to eat those euros as I understand that some Thalys may get through. However if there is no metro and no museums, this trip would not work for me. Single traveler with sightseeing aggenda. This would have been my 4th trip to Paris.Am heartbroken but do admire the french.SadSybil

I was going to travel from Canada/US to Paris next week. I haven't been in years. Have not bought plane or hotel yet and the headlines, such as 'France thrown into chaos' look pretty daunting. I hear that flights could be disrupted, subways won't work, workers may not show up and shut down a lot of things. It's mostly the flight disruptions that concern me. I read in one report that Air France may also strike as well as energy workers which would affect the heat and lighting. Would appreciate opinion about whether this is a good time to go to Paris considering what may go on next week. Oh yea, there will also be 80,000 potentiallly irate rugby fans from the UK who may be stranded in Paris next week.
Jeff Toronto/L.A.

To those traveling into Paris and will be here during the planned strike that will commence at 20h00 on the 13th of November and will continue the day of the 14th of November.

The strikes are planned to involve nearly all of the rail unions in Paris which will include the Metro (RATP), RER ( SNCF lines) which includes the train to the and from the airports. The Eurostar line (through the Chunnel) will most likely be impacted as well (part of the SNCF union).

Taxis and Velib bicycles will be in high demand on these days but I encourage you to take these days in stride. There are many, many things you can do here just by walking. It is a great day to check out the shops and museums, sit at a cafe and enjoy the day.

My boyfriend bought a TGV train ticket on Nov. 16 from Lyon to Paris cause he has to catch an international flight from CDG to SHANGHAI CHINA. Anyboby can give me some latest information about this onward strike??? I will be in shanghai as well at that time and i'll leave for New York end of the month. We are worrying that we can't see each other because it's really difficult to get a seat from France to China these days!(always full) If he lose the flight because of strike.

anybody knows what are the chances that the strike will continue on Nov. 15.
we are arriving to CDG airport that day afternoon.
will it be smart to reservea shuttle service in advance since we cannot count on Metro/train/bus that day either?

The situation here in Paris and France is not looking good regarding the strike.

Sarcozy is not backing down (nor should he) and the unions are poised to carry through with the strike beginning at 20h00 on Tuesday.

The disruption is expected to continue for several days as several unions have announced open-ended strikes.

For those concerned about TGV and other large trains that travel through France see http://www.sncf.com/

For Paris Metro and bus (RATP and some SNCF) see www.ratp.fr

Note: For these sites to get the most current information you must read the French site - however if you are still learning use Google translate :o)

Finally - for general overal reporting information you can look at http://www.expatica.com/ - select France

If you are at the airport I suggest private shuttle - www.parishuttle.com for example.

My family and I are coming in early the morning of the 17th to CDG. Does anyone know if international flights will be disrupted by the strike? Also I read somewhere that starting on the 20th another strike is starting and that museums in Paris will be closed. Does anyone know if that is true or not? Thanks for any information anyone can give me.

Hi, Barbara,
We also have plans (and a non-refundable travel package) to arrive in Paris on Nov. 17th. Our plan is to call the hotel Friday before we leave and see if someone there can give us an update and any ideas on how to get from the airport to the hotel. Since we have to forfeit our money if we don't go (insurance is basically worthless), unless the situation is violent we intend to travel anyway. We are hoping that the transportation situation improves by the weekend. I think that once we get to the hotel, there will be things that we can see and do without having to rely on transportation. I also heard about the museums, etc. being closed starting Nov. 20 due to strike. We intend to see the Orsay & Louvre before the 20th if possible. Not sure what else would be closed, but I'll bet you can't get into the Concierge or Sainte Chapelle because of their location. I'll post anything that we are able to find out. Thanks, everyone, for the updates.

The strike will continue and at this point the following estimations are being made for tomorrow.

Métro : Ligne 14 : Normal functions (remember this is the only non-driver line - if I only lived closer to it - sigh)

Ligne 1 : 1 out of 2 trains (approx. 1 train every 10min) Autres lignes : 1 of every 5 trains so about one train every 20 minutes or so.

RER RATP : Lignes A et B : Très perturbées ! In other words don't plan on it. RER B from CDG to Gare Nord will most likely run with some delay.

Bus et Tramway : 40% en moyenne Wahoo ! That is a vast improvement.

I managed this afternoon on a Velib bicycle - there were plenty available. However tonight on my way home at 20h30 has taken 2 hours by metro for a normal 20 minute commute. Typically, I am home in 20 minutes - it is cold tonight and walking seemed insane.

Patience is the key - along with a good book.

During last month's strike the hop-on hop-off tourist buses in Paris were running. You could use them to get around town.