Christmas is Coming!

Signs have been in evidence for the past two weeks (that means only since the middle of November) - stores stocking Christmas merchandise, the city stringing icicle lights across some of the narrower streets, etc. But the lights didn't go on until this week, the stores didn't really set up their Christmas displays until this week, Christmas trees and greens didn't show up at the florists - until this week, the very end of November. What's been more in evidence is the French starting to provision for their holiday feasts - lots of tastings at wine stores, lots of champagne displays and lots of advertising about foie gras and holiday meals to order (for those who don't want to cook). And from last weekend through mid-December, every neighborhood seems to have one or two locations with fairs where producers from outside of Paris come to sell their products. And what they're selling again says volumes about the celebration and what's important - food (champagne, wine, foie gras, cassoulet, duck, oysters), all to be shared with family and friends. It's not uncommon to see people walking away from these stands with a case or two of their favorite brew... There's clearly a bustle but, though the French complain about the commercialization of the holiday, it seems much less commercial than in the US, at least from what I've observed in my neighborhood!

La Greve (the strike)

Well, one of my French friends put it this way - the # 1 sport in France is the strike, followed by soccer, then rugby! This strike, primarily transit workers, came in 2 parts. Part 1 was in October and lasted a couple of days but, when it was voted on, the vote was for it to be reconductible, that is it could be resumed. Which it was about 2 weeks ago. At issue was an attempt by the government to bring the transit worker's retirement age (now 50) into line with some other sectors. It affected virtually all public transportation - in Paris the metro, bus, tramway and RER (suburban light rail), the SNCF (all the intercity trains including the highspeed TGV). Businesses rented hotel rooms in order to house employees who otherwise would be unable to get to work. A friend who was leaving for the US the next day got a hotel room near the airport (with some difficulty because of businesses snapping up rooms for their employees) to ensure that she could make her flight. One woman in my exercise class who lives in the suburbs got a ride from her husband who she 'jokingly' said threw her out at the very outskirts of Paris and she walked the remaining several kilometers from there. Another person got a ride from her mom, lots of folks rode bikes (motorized and non-motorized alike (the motorcycle accident rate doubled), etc.

For the first day or two, things were virtually at a standstill. After that, slowly, some workers came back to work. Many factors made this complex - the metro workers are organized into teams according to line. They each vote on the strike, so some lines resumed work relatively soon. Given that, these lines were packed - you could at least get closer to where you were going! Riders were fairly good humored about all this but by the end folks were getting tired of it! The other complicating factor is that, while there are 5 major labor unions involved in this, there are many others, so lots of moving parts which I don't understand beyond being able to give you this brief description. Then this past Tuesday, others joined in - schools and government workers among them. So then you had little transportation, schools were closed, the post office was open but only to pick up packages (government workers...), etc.

For me, the impacts were small but a bit surprising: Pariscope, a weekly listing of all the movies, plays, concerts in Paris, appears on Wednesdays, but apparently there are delivery problems when there's a strike (it's competitor Spectacle didn't seem to have this problem, go figure), I had to skip the trip I'd planned to the post office and, when I went to the opera Tuesday night, I discovered that it was being performed concert version instead of staged because the stage hands had joined in the strike!

Part of the cultural challenge of life in France, not understanding what's likely to be affected. For the moment, the strike is over (I can't seem to figure out what the settlement was) and public transit has come back to life very quickly! I'm hoping it will last - but I'm not putting away my hiking boots!

Photos are from the first strike. There was a large demonstration that first day that went virtually past my place. The weather was chilly but reasonably nice, the turnout was good and noisy but peaceful, lots of young people but not exclusively, banners, balloons, etc. By the time they arrived at this point it was maybe halfway into their march. All the cafes at the intersection were full as many people took a break for coffee!

Les flics (Cops on the Beat)

Police patrol Paris in groups - at last three, sometimes four. I've seen them on foot, on bikes and the most surprising, on roller blades (les rollers). Sorry, no photo - I wasn't bold enough to take a picture of the cops on roller blades or to ask them if I could. I'll be more prepared next time, if there is a next time!