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If arriving or departing from cities in France

Kanga

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Francés x 5, Le Puy x 2, Arles, Tours, Norte, Madrid, Via de la Plata, Portuguese, Primitivo
A reminder that the French trains and metro can be affected by strikes. We once nearly missed our flight back to Australia because of a last minute strike that would have prevented us from getting to Paris in time. We found an alternative, but it was hairy.
 
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So true. Last year I had to get from Castres to Marseilles to catch a flight.

The night before I worked out I could get a 6am train to Toulouse, and then another train to Marseille.

I arrived at the train station in Castres to find it in pitch darkness.

Only one man standing nearby, and he told me they were all on strike, but, he said, there was a bus just around the corner, leaving . . . NOW.

I ran around the corner and leapt on the bus. It terminated at a bus station in Toulouse, but I now had no idea where I was.

There was a metro station nearby, so I went there and managed to work out how to buy a ticket from the machine and get a metro to the train station, praying that THEY weren’t all on strike.

Fortunately not, and I made my flight in Marseille, but it was stressful!
 
Very true. We had a TGV booking from Paris to Bayonne last Camino, but ended up booking a Paris - Biarritz flight at the last minute due to rail strikes. Not sure I would trust them again...
 
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There are still strikes started last Thursday,

Thousands of striking workers poured into streets across France on Thursday for a sixth day of mass demonstrations, as French trade unions also blocked ports and disrupted power production,
 
The trains are almost back to normal and for those passing through Paris, well, starting tomorrow the metro will be mostly working too.

There may very well be some future strike action, but generally speaking the strike is now "suspended" (but not stopped).
 
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Very true. We had a TGV booking from Paris to Bayonne last Camino, but ended up booking a Paris - Biarritz flight at the last minute due to rail strikes. Not sure I would trust them again...
We've been mulling this over for a few months. We have 2 nights in Paris on arrival, and booked a hotel near Gare Montparnasse with a view to getting the train to SJPDP, but I've been getting a bit worried about all these train strikes. I think I will just go ahead and book flights to Biarritz instead. We have accommodation pre-booked in SJPDP, Orrison and Burguete, so it would be a pain if we were delayed even 1 day due to strikes. Your post reinforces my thoughts. Thank you.
 
I posted here because those of us in the Antipodes always have long distance flights to get home. It never worries me on the arrival in Europe end - a slight change of plans is fine (terrible to be forced to spend time in Paris!!!!). But a different thing if you are trying to get to your flight home.
 
We've been mulling this over for a few months. We have 2 nights in Paris on arrival, and booked a hotel near Gare Montparnasse with a view to getting the train to SJPDP, but I've been getting a bit worried about all these train strikes. I think I will just go ahead and book flights to Biarritz instead. We have accommodation pre-booked in SJPDP, Orrison and Burguete, so it would be a pain if we were delayed even 1 day due to strikes. Your post reinforces my thoughts. Thank you.

On our last trip we had the train booked. I have used it in the past and it's a great way to travel.
And like you we stayed near Gare Montparnasse.

We decided to keep an eye on the strike situation nearer the date.
And it was 'active'........


The day before our train journey we checked at the Gare.
Very helpful service centre.
They advised that our train 'could' be cancelled and showed us how to apply for a refund on our tickets.

We booked last minute flights instead.

It's a difficult call.........
 
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I was under the impression the sporatic strikes were planned events. Is this accurate?
 
In June 2018 I encountered the train strikes and had to forfeit one of my last days in Moissac on the Le Puy route in order to make sure I was on the train going back to the Paris airport. I had to spend an extra day at the airport hotel doing "nothing much" before my flight home.
 
I was under the impression the sporatic strikes were planned events. Is this accurate?

Not exactly -- sometimes a strike action can be completely unplanned, most commonly as a form of sudden protest if a rail employee is violently attacked while on the job.

But otherwise, this general strike is unlike the rolling train strike of a year or so ago.
 
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In October 2017 I missed my flight from Paris to Sydney due to a French air traffic controllers strike which left me stuck in Barcelona for about 36 hours. So even air travel is not immune to strikes!
 

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