French Transport Worker's Strike

The French love to strike, it's in their DNA

EuroStar runs regardless of French transport workers strikes

Transport strikes are common, they usually take place during peak holiday season in order to maximise their impact.

Remember the volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010 showering continental Europe in ash and totally shutting down air traffic? I was in London for my birthday at the time, with a return ticket to Geneva.

I awoke on my buddy's sofa to hear about it on the morning news. When you're feeling a little ropey after a night out on the swill, this is not going to make you feel any better!

Knowing my flight would more than likely be cancelled I immediately bought a ticket on Eurostar, figuring once I was across the channel it'd be a snip to make the last 450km from Paris to Geneva. In my haste I did not check if there was a transport strike going on in France. I had been living in Switzerland for a couple of years, mostly driving around France, blissfully disconnected from industrial action.

I bought the ticket right away, I must have got one of the last tickets as only first class was available, and I seem to recall that several hours later it was being reported Eurostar was booked out solid, TV news showing people queueing around the block outside the ticket office. Didn't they have internet?

Anyway I arrived in Paris to find it on lockdown.

There was a train strike, several other unions joined in, trains were running extremely reduced services and the volcano created a "perfect storm" of travel chaos.

The unions announced on TV that they had considered cancelling their industrial action, but finally decided to go ahead regardless.

Luckily for me I still had a flat in Paris, which I bought when I lived there, because there was no way out, hotels were full full "complet" and car rental companies had zero availability. I ended up staying a week, which would have been tricky, without a place to stay!

If you are travelling to France in April better check the latest news. Here is a link to some strike dates, but be warned thar they can  change at the last minute French Transport Strikes