We had a late flight home from Paris at 7:35 PM. We were delighted to have an extra half day in Paris (and not have to cut our last evening short to pack or get up at the crack of dawn). We were staying in an apartment and I had asked my husband to phone for a taxi the day before.
Off we went that morning to rue Mouffetard, the market at Place Monge, Place de la Contrascarpe, then settled in for a very nice lunch at L%26#39;Epoque.
On our way back to the apartment by bus, we had to transfer at Montparnasse, right across from Tour Montparnasse, when we saw a %26quot;deviation%26quot; sign at the bus stop. No buses would be stopping at Ecole Militaire, Champs de Mars, and other stops in the area (right where we were staying) due to - a taxi strike!
My husband had not phoned for a taxi, thinking a few hours notice would be fine.
As we were standing at the bus stop, realizing that no buses would be able to get through, for all the taxis headed to Invalides/Champs de Mars for a rally/demonstration, we were not too panicked because we had plenty of time.
We hopped on the Metro. Thankfully, the LaMotte-Picquet Grenelle station had re-opened (even though there was still an X through it on the map on the train) and we were able to transfer to Line 8 and ride to Ecole Militaire, where we were careful to exit so as not to have to cross the street.
By the time we got there, the streets all over in every direction were filling with taxis, bumper to bumper, honking their horns. Quite a sight (and deafening!).
When we got to our apartment, I grabbed the Rick Steves guide there and looked up shuttle services while my husband phoned the taxi driver who services the apartments. Victor was on strike, but said he%26#39;d call back in five minutes if he could find anyone to drive us to CDG. He couldn%26#39;t. So, I phoned the only shuttle service Rick Steves recommends. They told me we%26#39;d be better of taking the RER, as their vehicle might not be able to get to us, and the airport entrances may be blocked by taxis.
Fortunately, our bags were not too unmanageable. We had a medium sized rolling bag each, a carry on, a tote bag, and my handbag. So, we set off and walked to the Pont de l%26#39;Alma RER station. As we walked, more and more taxis arrived. Were it not for significant police presence, we would not have been able to cross Quai Branly for the bumper to bumper flood of taxis.
There was one double staircase down to the track at the Pont de l%26#39;Alma RER station. When we transferred at Saint-Michel, there was another double staircase down, a warren of hallways, then a very long escalator ride (thankfully, the escalator was operating) down to the track for CDG.
I expected the RER to be chock full of folks with bags headed for CDG, but the trains were half empty. Rather than filling up at Gare du Nord, the trains emptied out. We must have been on an %26quot;express%26quot; because there were no further stops until CDG-1.
We got off at CDG 2 and rode an elevator, then a series of escalators to Level 4, then followed the signs to 2E, a fairly long, but pleasant walk - except for the parade of demonstrators banging loudly.
At 2E, Air France check-in was right there.
I%26#39;ll tell you, I would never, ever have wanted to do this in reverse! I cannot even imagine hauling our bags up even one of those long staircases or that long escalator being out of order in the %26quot;up%26quot; direction at Saint-Michel.
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Wow...what an ordeal.
Thanks for the restaurant post.
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Wow, I%26#39;m VERY impressed that you kept your head about you and did a work-around on this. Reading your story made the hair stand on the back of my neck.
It also made me feel the same nervousness I felt 7 years ago when my wife and I were in Nice, and a nationwide truckers%26#39; strike was called. One of the things the truckers did was blockade the airports to prevent fuel shipments from being brought in for the jets. We had a rental car, and we%26#39;d been warned not to wait until 7AM to leave for the airport, that traffic would be at a standstill by the blockade.
So we got up at 3AM, and prepared to drive to the airport ahead of any traffic. (The airport is only about 10 minutes from downtown Nice). The first obstacle we encountered: the main highway out of Nice was shut down, we didn%26#39;t expect that. That meant negotiating the back streets (which we%26#39;d never negotiated, and for which we did not have a map), with the hope that I could the road that becomes the Promenade des Anglais out of the city to the airport. Fortunately, the streets were laid out logically, and we managed to get out.
As we approached the airport, we wanted to get rid of our rental car. The access road was blocked by truckers, and at first I thought we were defeated. But I woke up a policeman in his car, and in my minimal French, asked him what to do. He told me via hand signals and minimal French in return that small cars could weave in and around the trucks and get through. Which turned out to just barely be the case. If we had rented a Mercedes or something of that size, we%26#39;d have never made it.
Once rid of our rental car at 4AM, we knew we%26#39;d be okay, because we had booked a flight from Nice to Frankfurt, rather than up to Paris. Had we booked out of Paris, our flight would have been cancelled, since the airport fuel depots were being rationed at CDG. Instead, our flight was fully fueled in Frankfurt, and had enough for a return. Trust me on this, I%26#39;d rather be lucky than smart...and in this case, booking a flight home via Frankfurt rather than Paris was pure dumb luck.
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