Two days before our departure to Paris by the TGV, a friend casually said, “ Better check on the strike.”
Strike? Une grêve? That word instills terror in the hearts of the traveler especially when it concerns mass transit. The newscasts spoke of between 150,000-350,000 demonstrators (depending on the source). Unions asked the public to support the strike for the entire week by refraining from use of public transit.
The strike was scheduled to end Wednesday at 8 a.m., five minutes before our 8:05 a.m. departure. There was no way to get an update—the train stations were locked. Websites gave the basic information. Our TGV might leave, but we couldn’t take an early local train to Cannes. I spent a sleepless night, imaging all possible scenarios.
At the Cannes station, local trains had delays. The TGV would leave as scheduled.
We boarded, in a state of disbelief! At 8:05 a.m., our trained pulled away from the station.
We descended from the train in Paris under gray skies and joined the hundreds of other passengers, pulling rolling suitcases. The métros ran efficiently. We made our business appointments.
Our one-night stay left no time for relaxation. At the Gare de Lyon while we awaited the departure of our TGV for Cannes, we ordered our usual café gourmand, thankful the strike was no longer foremost on our minds.
Café gourmand at the Train Bleu, Gare de Lyon
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