France closed 1

Fourteen months ago I was a tourist in France with my niece. The weather was beautiful, we moved around Paris by boat on the River Seine, and we stayed near the Eiffel Tower. 

It seemed then like the right time to go, and for two reasons I think it was the right time. One reason: just a month after we returned home, civil unrest began with the "yellow vests" in Paris and other cities. Now huge strikes are crippling air travel, train, and public services.

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Eurostar, the high-speed train under the English Channel, has canceled ~100 runs recently. Air France grounded at least one-third of its domestic flights. As of last Thursday, the Eiffel Tower was "ferme" (closed). Cafes and restaurants along the route of marches in Paris were ordered to close for the day by police in case of violence on the edges of the demonstrations.

In addition to tourism-related closures, there are strikes of medical workers, police officers, teachers, garbage collectors, etc. The issues for the disruption are financial - the government plans to reform pensions. 

Eleven of the 16 Paris subway lines were closed last week. Tourists in France right now will have to be extra resourceful.

taken from Forbes

(cont'd tomorrow)