Skip to main content

Our first wrinkle!

And no, I'm not talking about facial wrinkles - although between the 6 of us seniors we do have just a few of those! I'm talking about a transportation strike wrinkle!!  The French LOVE a strike so I guess we should be embracing the upcoming strike action as part of the "true" French experience!  Last week it was announced that there would be a one day transit strike on Sept. 10, and a one day nationwide strike on Sept. 18, backed by France's eight major unions...and if anybody loves a strike it is SNCF (the French national train company) so I'm pretty sure they will participate.  This announcement has left us all scrambling a bit.  John and Babette were set to arrive in Paris on Sept. 10, and we have already purchased train tickets for travel between Bordeaux and Dinan on Sept. 18.  One good thing about French strikes, they are required by law to announce exactly who will be striking 24 hours ahead of the called strike.  So far, we have heard talk of air traffic controllers, Metro, SNCF national train company, and others...but none of it is 100% confirmed at this point - we are too far ahead of the 24 hr. rule.  But rather than be left in a jam, scrambling with hundreds of other travelers, we have all pre-emptively adjusted our plans a bit.  John and Babette get to extend their trip a bit...they opted to leave 2 days early and are actually flying right NOW (aren't they lucky...2 extra days in Paris?!), and I cancelled our train tickets for Sept. 18 travel and scrambled to find a rental van that we can pick up in Bordeaux.  We were trying to avoid a long day in the car, but I guess 5 hrs driving through the French countryside isn't all bad, right?!  I'm sure we will have some BON DÉLIRE adventures along the way.  We could have waited and figured it all out in France once the specifics of the strike were announced, but I just felt better getting things squared away before we even leave.  (And don't worry...we will be taking trains on 2 other "non-strike" days. There is no way Gary will go to Europe and not take some trains - he loves European train travel!!). 

In true French style..."c'est la vie"!



Comments

  1. Lori MKSeptember 13, 2025 at 4:07 PM

    I think you were quite smart to prepare in advance for the possible strike. You may have avoided some major future headaches. Hope all goes smoothly!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our last full day together in Paris :-(

Well, all good things must come to an end...and this fabulous trip is no exception.  The day started with my regular walk to Bo & Mie bakery, just 1 block from our apartment.  Their croissants are out of this world.  Just look at these beauties! We never tried the raspberry one... next time!!   We apparently are more traditionalists...we prefer the "croissant au beurre" and the "pain au chocolate". This was our last full day in Paris.  Gary was feeling guilty that we hadn't gone to enough museums on this trip I think...so he and I headed off to the Petit Palace, which neither of us had visited before. We headed off on the Metro, which I just love so much.  I like the hot metal smell of the tracks, the whoosh sound when the train pull in, the efficiency of the way the whole Metro system is laid out, how easy it is to use, the variety of people you see on the Metro trains...and if you are lucky, you might get to hear a busker deep in the tunnels of the Me...
Post a Comment
Read more

Notre Dame, d'Orsay, Marché Bastille, and more!

This day we decided to split up as couples and explore on our own.  Gary and I headed out to have breakfast at Copains, the gluten-free bakery just a few blocks from our apartment. On a previous trip we had found only one GF bakery/restaurand in Paris.  It's called NoGlu and it is still around (but not near our apartment this year).  Paris is slowly  coming around to acknowledging gluten free options.  There are several locations of Copains, and another larger GF bakery called Las Manufacture du Sans Gluten (also, not near our apartment).  So off we headed to Copaians.  It was on the adorable Rue Montorgueil.  It's decor is very modern and minimalist; when we got there we noticed a few people outside eating, and another few inside.  Their products looked amazing so we settled right in an ordered!  Gary finally  got to eat a croissant in France!!  They had several types of bread for sale, but no baguettes.  When we asked, t...
Post a Comment
Read more

September 20...otherwise known as the worst day of our vacation!

Our little home is just so cute, I can't stop taking photos of it! Gary and I got up early and walked through the town to the TI (traveler's information) office to pick up some maps and restaurant suggestions.  Ironically one of the top restaurants the gal there suggested was the place we stumbled upon last night, so I count that as a win! This is the Rance River...Dinan Port is on the left bank and Lanvallay is on the right bank...we are staying in the walled town of Dinan which is at the top of the hill on the left, above the Port. The town was so beautiful and quite in the early morning as the sun was coming up. We found a little cafe and sat for a cup of coffee and croissant (heavenly!).  Next thing I knew, John and Babette passed by and joined us!  Our cafe was in the shade and Babette was chilly so the owner (another Scottish rugby player who relocated to France!), brought out a shawl for Babette to wear and he insisted on placing it on her...so charming! Heaven!! W...
2 comments
Read more