strikes strikes strikes

Day 8 of the Strikes (and 4,5,6 Protest Marches...lost count ;-). This strike is actually a bit different that the others...because this is an on going strike. In 1996 (I think is the year) the strikes lasted for 1 month!!!!! AND the biggest thing is that there were NO trains OR buses running at all! It may not be a major issue in your minds but here...where A LOT of people do not have cars and if you can believe it or not some don't even know how to DRIVE...it is a big pain.

It's really not that bad right now though...

Yes I have had to walk or take alternative modes of transportation home a few times.

But ultimately It has not inconvenienced me or my husband at all. My MIL has had to drive instead of taking the RER from the suburbs into the city - but still no crazy traffic yet.

The Strikes are for the same reason as my last post. Retirement age is being increased from 60 years old to 62 and the unions are not happy (as well as the majority of the citizens).

In my pic you can see the beginning of the March...sorry I don't have a zoom on my phone. But it was the first march of the strikes - so it was big and loud!

bois de vincennes cont...

We went back to Bois de Vincennes for a picnic and playtime in the park for M.

It was also our (M & I's) first ride on the metro alone with the stroller.  We only rode our line all the way to the park (no changes).  There weren't too many stairs to take (and yes that means there is NO ELEVATOR).

I just carried him down/up in his stroller bags and all!

The metro agents let me go through the handicapped access (after swiping my ticket through the normal ticket thingy).  I would have fit through both of these metro entrances/exits (some though are so small I would like a weight challenged person would have trouble - to be politically correct ;-)

Anywho...we had no troubles at all.  But it was 11:30am and 2:30pm and the metro was dead (also it was August = Vacances for most Parisians).  But I am confident I can maneuver just fine if needed.

F met us for lunch in the park.  As you can see M loved the cheese!

BTW playground is awesome...for older kids.  They had about 3 or 4 play areas for the different ages.  Pics are just from the little ones area...

I think they might have had a zip line too!  I could see it over the hedges but it started to rain...I will verify and take more pics next visit.