I think you are being oversensitive. People love to share horror stories as do the media because it sells papers and makes them money.

I travel Easyjet regularly and have NEVER had a bad flight. LCCs have the same safety standards as every other licenced company, and often have better maintained fleets because the actual aircraft have to do more sectors or hours over a prescribed period than legacy carriers. Easyjet are upfront and honest. OK so every airline can have cancellations, but there are regulations in place if a flight is cancelled and Easyjet honours them.

As regards CNL, they are the most modern rolling stock available and I think your partner will have no problems in using them. Think modern airline toilets. No difference except that you are sitting over rails rather than at altitude.

As for the Paris strikes, they have to be declared publicly in advance by French law so you will not be in the dark as to when the next one will be; about 5 days' notice is required so you could always reschedule your trip. If you are able to plan ahead, you could always head for Germany, Belgium or Switzerland or even the UK by train (Eurostar seems to run well even on strike days) and fly on from there on Easyjet or another LCC. No need to weep yet. Just plan strategically and enjoy yourself. The next strike days are 28 October and 6 November, and I always post on the forum in the French thread if someone else doesn't beat me to it.