Paris protests 2023
 

The protests going on this spring -- how bad are they? Where are they? How long are they likely to last? My husband and I have a Europe trip planned in May, which includes Paris (my favorite place in the world). We will be staying near the Place de la Republique (at the Renaissance Republique). I know the area can get a bit unruly when there are protests and such, so I am wondering whether to move our reservation to another hotel, and, indeed, whether to skip the Paris portion of our trip altogether. Do you think the unrest will be settled by then? Am I fretting over nothing? Bear in mind I use a wheelchair so getting around is a little more difficult.

Hard to tell. The strikes seem to be fizzling out a bit, but the protests are increasing and are getting more violent. There are more "coup de poing" operations as well, e.g. most railway workers don't go on strike, but a dozen or so protesters occupy a signal box at a busy junction and shut it down = no trains.

If riots continue into May, then Place de la République is probably not the best area.

Wheelchair wise - at the moment the uncollected garbage on the pavement is an issue in the streets, but the incinerators are coming back on line apparently, so that should be cleared up by late April or so.

Thanks. We'll keep an eye on it and decide in the next few weeks. What's been on the news is alarming, but it's always hard to gauge these things.

I have a trip next week. Does not look like much fun ?

Ah, in May? My guess which is always imperfect, is it'll most likely be fine?

Though, not by design, but I was in Paris during the initial strike and while did notice some disruptions, it wasn't really anything that phased me, after having been through these things in my own country, here and in HK. So, while there are some risks and a less than ideal time to visit, it isn't completely impossible to manage, in my view. As to what's going on now, I wouldn't go for a leisure visit tomorrow or even next week (though I do have a layover on my return from SE Asia next week via CDG), all of this should boil over by May, or at least they should have it under control.

While this could of course change, I've noticed the protestors really have no interest in disrupting tourists and make every effort to make their point without doing so, though not always successful. Case in point, my flight leading CDG was hit with a 6 or 7 hour delay, but it wasn't anything a seasoned traveler (by FT standards, I'm probably less seasoned than most) wouldn't be able to handle relatively easily.

May should be fine. Next week is still up in the air.

I would move hotels, Republic is always a big mess.

It should be done by May I guess (I hope for them)... But it doesn't hurt to have a plan B with a cancelable hotel reservation away from Bastille/Republique and Opera or even Concorde. My friend lives in Opera and he says they always march through there.

If you are in one place, I would suspect that impact will be relatively small and usually largely avoidable as a tourist. If you plan to tour various places in the country relying on public transport, that is usually when things start to get more complicated.

Yesterday, transportation was only disrupted about 20% for rail travel and not at all for bus service. The garbage strike in half of the arrondissements ended today for a very funny reason. The trade union that had called for it said that there were no longer enough strikers to continue. So things are pretty much back to normal. (They hope to rabble rouse for the next two weeks and start again maybe.)

Place de la République is still an excellent area to stay. Even though many protest marches begin there, that is where the atmosphere is still pleasant, with food trucks and music. It is when the marches get to Bastille or end up at Nation that the black bloc and other elements start trashing the street. The only problem with places like République is the fact that the metro station is closed for several hours and the bus service is interrupted.

Just République station? I mean, I'll stay at an airbnb that is between Repúblique and Jacques Bonsergent station (april 17 and right now a change will cost me more than $200). Whenever Bonsergent is open, it wouldn't be a main issue for me, or is the whole line 5 usually closed at strike days?

They close the stations along the grands boulevards. Jacques Bonsergent remains open in such cases.

I was there a few weeks ago.

Before I left I heard.... No transport will be running it's the 'Renewable" strike it's going to bring the city to a halt
Protests will be everywhere, you won't be safe
And so on.........

Actual impact... well one day we took a 10 Euro cab instead of waiting on a bus.

That's it!

And of course watching the news each night in Paris I didn't see anything about dead people from random shootings in Paris which is more than I can say for staying in the US.

Go!

Tomorrow will be a good test of whether the strike is really petering out. I suspect that it is.

Yes, last weekend it was utterly glorious. Warm weather, blue skies… Felt like summer. I did see two or three shop windows in the Marais that were in the process of being repaired, but other than that, everything appeared to be totally normal 👍

Edit to add: Looks like more protests today, and the possibility that the garbage collectors in Paris could strike again. Will see what happens.