France on strike--day 2

Oct 19, 2007

I got up at 6am in order to (a) have time to wake up and (b) have time to get ready before I left for the 8:32 train into Paris. The train website was telling us that there would be an 8:02 train, an 8:32 train, and then not another until 9:32. The Salon de Chocolat begins at 10am, and the metro we needed to take to get to is the one running the least frequently. (The metro site said "less than 1 out of 6 cars per hour".)

We got to the train station at 8:22, to join a gazillion people already waiting. Enough that made you wonder if the 8:02 had actually come. And bbbbrrrrrr was it cold outside.

8:32...no train.
8:42...the tv screen tells us that it's late. No kidding.
8:46...the tv screen changes and says the next train is at 9:32. Apparently the 8:32 disappeared and was not coming at all.

We went back to the apartment, called all our friends that we were meeting. One of them, who lives in Paris, said she was at a major train/metro station, and there was NO ONE there, and no trains or metros were running. She bailed.

Asia and Swimmer called and said their metro station was completely closed, and they were trying to catch a bus into the city...they'd call us at 9:32 to see if we made it onto the train. Sue-Wee's friend, who also lives in Paris, hadn't even left her apartment yet.

Back out into the cold to wait for the train. As the clock clicks 9:32, the tv screen changes...next train at 10:16. Asia and Swimmer called and said they were still waiting for a bus. We bailed. The Salon de Chocolat will sadly have to wait until next year.

We went to the MMTAT's for a little while...when you can't have chocolat, vising the MMTAT's is the next best thing. M#2 told us her post office woes due to the strike. We discussed how we were going to get to our ladies' Bible study this after noon, since um...we can't take a train to get there.

On our way home, we passed some ladies who'd been waiting for the train since at least 8:22, when we'd gotten there. Apparently the 10:16 didn't come either. And according to the train website...our train is running the most frequently out of all them. HA. My theory is that the websites are just putting this stuff up to make themselves look good, like they're trying to be helpful and run some trains. Let's face it. There are no trains.

According to the news, the last time there was a strike this size was in 1995, and it lasted for three weeks, until Jacques Chirac gave in. Eek. Nicholas Sarkozy, the new prez...(a) is hard-line on sticking to his guns, (b) left the country this week, which says to me he doesn't care that there is a strike going on, he's not even here to deal with it, and (c) just got divorced on Wednesday, which seems to mean to me he's got other issues in his life at this moment that are more pressing. I mean--Sarko doesn't depend on public transport like the rest of us.

I'll keep you posted. In the meanwhile...I'm home. It's too cold to walk anywhere and I don't own a bike.