Avoiding the messiest of protests in Paris
April 10, 2023 6:53 AM Subscribe
I'll be going to Paris later this week for a few nights. This trip was planned long in advance, and while I personally am impressed by the French proclivity to protest/strike, and wish the workers the best in their struggle, I'm curious if there's any service or neighborhood I should particularly avoid if widespread protests arise? How can I best keep from butting in somewhere I'm not wanted, or maybe not safe?
I believe things quieted down a bit for a few weeks, but I see that the garbage strikes might be beginning again, and believe a big announcement on their retirement question is due while I'm there. I'm not averse to protests, and have marched in a few in my large city, so I'm mostly looking for advice along the lines of "Don't go to X neighborhood, they brawl with the police there" or "This museum always closes" or what have you. I plan to fly in Thursday the 13th, and take a train to Barcelona on the 15th.
Conversely, I have followed the protests with interest outside my travel plans, and hope the workers are successful in advocating against the raising of the retirement age. If I were inclined to observe/join a march or demonstration, would I be welcomed? Is there an area with more "family friendly" protests? No judgment on those brawling with cops, I just don't want to get arrested.
I believe things quieted down a bit for a few weeks, but I see that the garbage strikes might be beginning again, and believe a big announcement on their retirement question is due while I'm there. I'm not averse to protests, and have marched in a few in my large city, so I'm mostly looking for advice along the lines of "Don't go to X neighborhood, they brawl with the police there" or "This museum always closes" or what have you. I plan to fly in Thursday the 13th, and take a train to Barcelona on the 15th.
Conversely, I have followed the protests with interest outside my travel plans, and hope the workers are successful in advocating against the raising of the retirement age. If I were inclined to observe/join a march or demonstration, would I be welcomed? Is there an area with more "family friendly" protests? No judgment on those brawling with cops, I just don't want to get arrested.
I've been in Paris for a week now doing all the usual tourist stuff. I don't know what will happen in the future, but my trip was only minimally impacted (so far!). One day most of the Musee d'Orsay was closed, and one night a taxi driver informed us that it was impossible to go to the left bank (although we weren't trying to get there anyway). On another day we saw busloads of police in riot gear unloading across the street from the conciergerie. They walked off purposefully and we never saw them again, nor any protest.
There have been a lot of police van convoys driving around with their sirens on down by the Seine, but I don't know if that's normal or not. There's a fair amount of anti-police graffiti randomly throughout the city for whatever that's worth.
Thursdays seem to be the scheduled protest days, so keep an eye on the news, especially if you need to travel on that day.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 8:17 AM on April 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
There have been a lot of police van convoys driving around with their sirens on down by the Seine, but I don't know if that's normal or not. There's a fair amount of anti-police graffiti randomly throughout the city for whatever that's worth.
Thursdays seem to be the scheduled protest days, so keep an eye on the news, especially if you need to travel on that day.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 8:17 AM on April 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’ve been in Paris for the last week and have seen absolutely no issues. I did some Googling the day I arrived (the last protest day) to find out where the actual protests were taking place so I could keep away from those areas. I did have timed tickets for the Musee d’Orsay on the last protest day and they sent me an email that they would honor them at any time that day due to possible issues with transit, but trains ran fine for me. There was also a chance that my train from London to Paris could have been canceled, but it was not. Just keep an eye out for the next protest day as that’s when things can get rowdy.
posted by anotheraccount at 2:02 PM on April 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by anotheraccount at 2:02 PM on April 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I would recommend you do not join in any protests. You are an outsider, and while protesting against raising retirement age may seem like Good Thing for the average American, this protest is more complicated and taps into the French social contract and how society is organised and all that.
Unless you have an excellent understanding of social dynamics in France (and this does not mean merely reading about them in the NYTimes!!), please do not impose your well-meaning but ultimately foreign beliefs by actually joining a protest.
Yes, you can admire their rights and their determination to protect them, but to actually join a protest is just smacks of American colonialism. Enjoy your holiday, figure out any transport issues, join a protest when you get back to your home country.
posted by moiraine at 12:22 AM on April 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Unless you have an excellent understanding of social dynamics in France (and this does not mean merely reading about them in the NYTimes!!), please do not impose your well-meaning but ultimately foreign beliefs by actually joining a protest.
Yes, you can admire their rights and their determination to protect them, but to actually join a protest is just smacks of American colonialism. Enjoy your holiday, figure out any transport issues, join a protest when you get back to your home country.
posted by moiraine at 12:22 AM on April 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
The protests have got a much more violent police response so I wouldn’t recommend joining them without speaking good enough French to understand warnings from other protesters on when things are getting dangerous. It’s less that you might get arrested, and more like you might get injured. The protest route for Thursday hasn’t yet been announced, and there will be protests on Friday when France's Constitutional Court decides on the constitutionality of pension reform if they agree with Macron.
The trash collection strike starts again on Thursday. It isn’t in every arrondissement since some have private trash collection, but it does affect all of the trash depots so expect to see trash on the streets, but at the beginning of the strike it won’t be as bad as photos you may have seen which were after three weeks of strikes.
The other important thing to remember is that France has a long history of strikes that previously were listened to by the government, and the reason it’s got so bad here in Paris is that we’ve been striking (me as a disabled person metaphorically) for a long time and the government has been pushing through reforms without parliamentary votes.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:05 AM on April 11, 2023
The trash collection strike starts again on Thursday. It isn’t in every arrondissement since some have private trash collection, but it does affect all of the trash depots so expect to see trash on the streets, but at the beginning of the strike it won’t be as bad as photos you may have seen which were after three weeks of strikes.
The other important thing to remember is that France has a long history of strikes that previously were listened to by the government, and the reason it’s got so bad here in Paris is that we’ve been striking (me as a disabled person metaphorically) for a long time and the government has been pushing through reforms without parliamentary votes.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:05 AM on April 11, 2023
Best answer: Ok I found the strike locations (in French):
Thursday’s general strike will go from Opera at 2pm towards Bastille.
Friday’s flash strike will be at Concorde, they will update that page with a time.
Public transport has been less affected but will be busier, download the Citymapper app to check your journeys, it will show bike and scooter rentals too.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:23 AM on April 11, 2023
Thursday’s general strike will go from Opera at 2pm towards Bastille.
Friday’s flash strike will be at Concorde, they will update that page with a time.
Public transport has been less affected but will be busier, download the Citymapper app to check your journeys, it will show bike and scooter rentals too.
posted by ellieBOA at 3:23 AM on April 11, 2023
I was going to post the planned route for Thursday that ellieBOA posted....
If you do join the protests, the safest thing is to stay near some of the big union floats. In any case do not go too fast, as recently the more violent people are towards the front and that's where clashes with the police happen.
Otherwise it feels sometimes strange how invisible the protests can be at other moments/places, apart from when the garbage collection had stopped, it feels like two world's living side by side.
I hope you have a good stay in Paris.
posted by anzen-dai-ichi at 4:01 AM on April 11, 2023
If you do join the protests, the safest thing is to stay near some of the big union floats. In any case do not go too fast, as recently the more violent people are towards the front and that's where clashes with the police happen.
Otherwise it feels sometimes strange how invisible the protests can be at other moments/places, apart from when the garbage collection had stopped, it feels like two world's living side by side.
I hope you have a good stay in Paris.
posted by anzen-dai-ichi at 4:01 AM on April 11, 2023
Best answer: I wouldn't recommend joining the protests simply because it might put you on Border Control's radar and make them think you're in breach of your tourist visa or something, especially if you get caught up with the cops.
posted by creatrixtiara at 5:31 AM on April 11, 2023
posted by creatrixtiara at 5:31 AM on April 11, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses everyone. ellieBOA, your finding the route and times was especially reassuring, as our flight got in at 9:00am that morning so we were hopeful we'd miss most of it. In fact, we got to our hotel, walked to Musee d'Orsay stopping here and there, then ended back up near our hotel just as the march was going by. We crossed the march without issue and rested in our room for an hour while it walked by literally on the street just out our window for that long. I'm glad our flight wasn't a few hours later!
If anyone finds this question later on a day France is planning a strike, generally it was easy to miss it was happening til you were on top of the march, and I think you can hope for the best and not expect too many impacts if you're just visiting.
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:14 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
If anyone finds this question later on a day France is planning a strike, generally it was easy to miss it was happening til you were on top of the march, and I think you can hope for the best and not expect too many impacts if you're just visiting.
posted by DynamiteToast at 9:14 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
The subreddit r/ParisTravelGuide also has some, too: http://reddit.com/r/ParisTravelGuide/
Here is their ongoing magethread on the topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/ParisTravelGuide/comments/11ygi0t/protests_strikes_megathread/
posted by wenestvedt at 7:44 AM on April 10, 2023