Every new situation provides me with a chance to pick up a few new words in French. This week, it's the language of the French strike.
We've got our second big transportation strike here in France within the past month, both of them a reaction by the transportation unions to proposed pension reforms by the Sarkozy government (for details, try here or here). The first strike, at least as it was felt here in Paris, was more of an annoyance for most people (OK, for some it was much more than an annoyance, I'm sure) and it only lasted a couple of days, each day getting a bit better. This one promises to be a bit worse -- le trafic est très fortement perturbé -- as the unions have declared it "unlimited". This means it could go on indefinitely but will most certainly last more than a day or two. Many fear a repeat of the huge 1995 strike that lasted weeks and crippled Chirac's government; that strike had more popular public support than this one does, however -- 55% are said to be against this strike.
The RATP website, which normally provides really excellent tools like a point-to-point route planner and a little thing where you can find out when the next two buses are coming on any given bus line, is also shut down now except for regularly updated announcements of the status of the various metro, bus and tram lines running through Paris. And the news is not pretty; service has gotten progressively spottier as the day is heading into the afternoon/evening hours.
In my neighborhood, the 15th, for example, the two metro lines that serve this part of the arrondissement (the 12 and 13) are "service non assuré" which translates into "don't hold your breath or waste your time waiting for a train -- better hoof it". The buses (all of them) are still listed as "15% en moyenne" which is 15% of normal capacity. I hear a 95 bus pass by every so often but it does seem far less than normal.
Also, there is a big manifestation taking place around 2pm near Montparnasse where they are expecting around 12,000 transit workers plus workers from the EDF-GDF to protest the reforms the government is proposing (which is what the hubbub is all about in the first place). 19 bus lines run through that square and will be perturbées as a result.
Basically, this is not a good day to try and get around Paris (or even INTO Paris), and tomorrow promises to be no better. Georges and I are doing a "double date" dinner at his place with some friends of mine, and thank God one of my friends has a car to get us all to Georges' house on the far side of town from where I live; but still, the amount of organization it has taken to plan this cross-town trip so that we can hopefully arrive reasonably à l'heure is astonishing (I am beginning to appreciate public transportation more and more, the longer I'm here, especially when I have to map out a good driving route, with all the one-way streets in Paris!)
Suffice to say, there will be many tired and cranky commuters and tourists around the city. The Vélibs are sure to be in big demand. Bonne chance finding or even calling to reserve a taxi. And I hope all those Parisiennes have traded in their usual high heels for practical walking shoes.
And let's hope it doesn't last long.
