iahphx

You are correct, you CAN certainly "survive" the Paris strike as a tourist if you do certain things. But these aren't necessarily great or easy things to do. I know I'm looking at paying 3x hotel costs to move (I did have a great deal at a hotel in another part of town). Just because you can go, doesn't mean you should be forced to travel during this strike. It seems no different to me that when,a couple months after that Puerto Rican hurricane, UA let me change my travel date to another time. Sure, I could have gone to Puerto Rico two months after the storm. The roads and several hotels were open. The airport was open. But was it a good idea? Of course not -- I postponed my trip. The Paris situation is similar, but few airlines are helping their customers here.

IstKong

No, the situation is not similar.

If I was a foreigner, would I go to Puerto Rico after the hurricane ? No. Would I go to Paris during a strike ? Yes.

It is not a "survival" thing. Lot of people around the world would be more than happy to have a chance to visit Paris even during this strike. If you was in Paris these days, you were still able to do 90% of what a random tourist would have done. Louvre, Galeries Lafayette, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysées ? All of this is on Line 1/14 and working as usual, and open. You can still do plenty of things here. Otherwise, you can still walk, it is one of the most walkable capital city in the world and it's not too cold these days.

If your trip in France involve SNCF rides, then yes, if you have options to cancel or modify it, use them. If it is something like one week in Paris, no doubt you can still enjoy your trip, with minor disruptions. You even may benefit from good hotel deals.

And again, the city of Paris is not big. If you are near line 1 or 14, it is very unlikely that you will have to walk more than 30 minutes to go somewhere. From Châtelet (the most central place in Paris), you can go almost everywhere in the city in less than 1 hour walking. I'm sure there are worst things to do in the world than walking in Paris.

Here is an interesting picture that the local newspaper "Le Parisien" posted 5 days ago. And a journey like Montparnasse to Etoile is going through the Invalides, Champs de Mars, Eiffel Tower, Trocadéro... It's a nice walk for someone who want to visit Paris.

iahphx

I've walked plenty in Paris. Just like I've walked plenty in London, New York, Shanghai and Tokyo. But it's by choice. And I also take plenty of public transport in these cities when I visit. Because it's necessary. To say that tourists are not being greatly inconvenienced by having virtually the entire Paris Metro system down is to be living in an alternative reality.

IstKong

I personally would still have gone to London or Tokyo or Shanghai despite a similar transportation strike.

And Paris is even more walkable than these cities.

That's not comparable to a hurricane.

For sure it's better with public transportation, but the city is still enjoyable without, especially if staying in the city-center.

And the city during the strike is less disrupted than other European cities can be just because of holidays.

When reading foreing newspaper it's almost if life has stopped here. That's not true. The city is living despite the strike and people are adapt. It is not as dramatic as what we can see on the medias.

iahphx

Tomorrow looks like another "wonderful" day to be in Paris. And still no waivers.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20191216/fra...rotest-planned

bocastephen

Here is my experience over the past 24hrs...

1. we ended up doing a lot of walking - a lot. Between the walking and standing in the Musee d'Orsay, I am still sore and numb a day later, but walking around in Paris, I don't care, it was still wonderful
2. .....except for the area around Galleries Lafayette, which was a mob scene inside and out, although I never saw such beautiful holiday window displays
3. the ride to the airport Monday morning was a cluster-you-know-what. Uber pool rides were upwards of EU70 with point to point over EU100. Our concierge got us a taxi who accepted credit cards, and we were good to go for EU50 flat
4. the key is being flexible until the strike clears

IstKong

I'm glad you were still able to enjoy Paris despite the strike.

Yes, as mentioned above, Taxi is the best option for airports transfers because of the flat rate even during the strike/peak hours.

Hope that your post will help other acknowledge that this strike is not as dramatic for tourists as some may say.

By the way, this kind of strike is part of the uncertainties you have when travelling in France. It's part of the culture and it is how the life is here. Tourism in France has its drawbacks, just like tourism in any other place in the world. Expensiveness, weather conditions, political uncertainties, crime, scams... I don't know any perfect place in the world. And overall, France is still in my opinion one of the best countries you can visit as a tourist.

I as a tourist also encountered unpredictable events in the US where my flight was canceled because of weather conditions that wouldn't have canceled the flight in most countries, in Italy where I didn't knew that almost everything would be closed because of Christmas, London where I encountered severe transports disruptions due to a strike and holidays... That's part of the travel experience.

ShopAround

Thanks for the update. I arrive the 24th and am staying at the W Opera, so I'm hoping the RoissyBus will be running. I'm transferring to the Sheraton CDG the night before my return flight to give me flexibility in case of nightmarish traffic.

Of course, I'm still hoping that the strike will end before then but I'm going to anticipate doing a lot of walking and sticking with restaurants near my hotel for dinners. I know I'll still enjoy it and lots of walking will just burn off more of the cheese, wine and caramel calories.

bocastephen

You will have better luck with the Roissy Bus, because we stayed at the Hyatt Etoile, we were stuck with the next-to-useless Le Bus Direct where we waited over 2hrs for a bus #2 that never showed up along with a mob made angrier by the fact that any question made to the bus company staff was met with a shoulder shrug.

My mistake was not having my Internet service running before we bought tickets because I didn't realize that Uber Pool to my hotel was EU40 while that stupid bus was EU36 for two people. In the end we gave up and found Uber, and will need to figure out how to dispute the charge for those bus tickets.

My second mistake was buying a carnet of Metro tickets before we realized taking the bus was not going to be an option. We tried taking one bus, but literally could not squeeze onboard, then after the bus pulled away the status sign changed to "Pas Service" and we had to walk. The next day we were able to get a bus from Montmarte to the Orsay museum, but it was a horrific ride - I was almost knocked to the pavement by a rush of passengers trying to get off at the next step, while others tried to get around me to get on board. We finally made it to the museum, but the experience was not for the faint of heart. On the ride from the museum up to Galleries Lafayette, the traffic was so bad, we got off the bus, walked and arrived first.

I would say the key for travel anywhere, whether it's France or any country in the world, is to be flexible and patient.

If anyone is traveling to Paris in the next few weeks, I have the rest of my carnet of Metro tickets available which I can sell at a discount in USD or would send in lieu of a similar value charitable donation to the Lymphoma Society.

Yahillwe

I arrive the evening of the 29th, and you leave the 30th, correct?

Yahillwe

You can keep them and use them the next time you visit Paris, there is no expiration date to them.

VickiSoCal

What is my best option for getting 3 people from CDG to Ren Arc De Triumph early Saturday morning? We have Uber and G7 app loaded.

I have a ton of stuff pre-booked and paid for next week that I sure hope we can do. Eiffel tower Sunday night, Montemarte walking tour on Christmas, dinner in Versailles on Christmas Eve. I have 5 day Metro passes for everyone and 4 day Museum passes. I am super stressed about all this now. We are a family of 4 with older teens. We can walk but don't want to spend all of our time walking either.

ajGoes

The unions are currently debating whether to call a Christmas truce, so keep a close eye on the news. Meanwhile, the Metro passes will only be useful on lines 1 and 14.

I'd use the G7 Taxi app at the airport, where I don't think you'll have any trouble getting a cab at that hour. Weather permitting, I'd take the half-hour walk from your hotel to the Eiffel Tower; otherwise, a taxi or, if the traffic's not too bad, an Uber. (Taxis can use the bus lanes, so they can be a lot faster.)

Montmartre (note the spelling :-) ) is a longer walk, but you'd get a close-up view of a lot of the city. You may prefer to take a cab, but I quite enjoyed the hour-plus walk each way from the Latin Quarter last Wednesday. I wouldn't imagine that traffic will be terrible on Christmas, but wait for the opinion of someone who actually knows something about that.

For the Versailles outing, I'd get on the phone to the hotel's concierge and book a car service if I were really committed to going. This obviously won't be cheap but it should get you there, albeit after a slow drive. You might want to consider canceling that dinner in preference for something closer.

I had no trouble getting around Paris on foot and by one round trip on line 1 of the Metro last week. The sidewalks were crowded, but people were generally getting by and, as far as I could see, keeping their tempers. Watch out for scooters and bicycles, and enjoy the experience. Honestly, the strikes were only a minor inconvenience for me. I only took a cab once: to get back to CDG for my morning flight. It took half an hour.

VickiSoCal

Thank you. It looks like the next big headache will be our train to Zurich on Dec 26. I am watching the news closely and praying for a holiday truce.

ajGoes

If you're on the TGV Lyria service, it looks like your train is unaffected. At any rate, SNCF was perfectly happy to offer me PAR-ZRH tickets for the 26th.