Paris protest disruption

holystungun9

I’m due to go next weekend. I knew things were kicking off but assumed it would have quietened by now. I’ll do some googling but wondered if any of you have been in the last week or heard any stories.

It’s not like I’m going to cancel or anything but was hoping to have a touristy couple of days there and not be avoiding areas.

Suckit

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1BdGYOLbrbLxX


It is nuts!
Theyare trashing anything and everything that they come across.

4068ac1elhodqr

At least they're wearing yellow jackets for proper health & safety.
Perhaps also avoid Brussels, where it was spreading yesterday.

Not much you can do, just shrug the shoulders, and sigh: "C'est la vie",
relax at le cafe: coffee & croissant, 'and faint waff of tear gas in the background.

To be fair the French could have voted in the other chap, that promised a 4-day work week,
early retirement, free childcare and so on, but instead went for a re-born Napoleon.

BoJack Horseman

Just watch out for police snipers and you might be fine

https://twitter.com/emagogie/status/1069005384290058241

Spanish Eyes

Les gilets jaune are just another group.

I actually admire the French for protesting like this. We wouldn't do it the same extent. Ever.

But the Air Traffic Controllers must be millionaires by now after all their shenanigans. LOL.

Macron is toast though. But who will be any different.

Atlantic Dawn

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Les gilets jaune are just another group.

I actually admire the French for protesting like this. We wouldn't do it the same extent. Ever.

But the Air Traffic Controllers must be millionaires by now after all their shenanigans. LOL.

Macron is toast though. But who will be any different.

The French would certainly not have been paying off the bondholders.

0lddog

The youth of today long to live in the past.

In this case its a 50th anniversary ..........

CelticRambler

holystungun9 wrote: »

I’m due to go next weekend. I knew things were kicking off but assumed it would have quietened by now. I’ll do some googling but wondered if any of you have been in the last week or heard any stories.

If you haven't already left, Paris will be on lock-down this weekend, with additional security forces brought in to operate a circle of check-points around the city. The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Versailles and most museums and some theatres will be closed on Saturday. (The Arc de Triomphe is now closed indefinitely due to the damage caused last week) A lot of one-off Christmas markets and fundraising events have also been cancelled (basically anything that would attract a lot of people to the same location). Businesses within the city centre have been told to remove any exterior lights or decorations (what's left after last week) that could be used as projectiles, and to pull down their shutters on Saturday, so be prepared for a distinct lack of Christmas spirit.

Here's a list of sites open or closed this weekend (in French!)

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Les gilets jaune are just another group.

I actually admire the French for protesting like this.

They're not a group, it's just an excuse for feckin eejits to go on the rampage. Its a social media manipulation; the only reason the government has "caved in" is because there's no-one to negotiate with.

What possible admiration could you have for a load of nutters who destroy businesses that provide employment - restaurant with their chairs and tables burnt in the street, putting their young waiters out of work just before Christmas? Or burning all the French-grown Christmas trees they could find, putting the growers out of business just before Christmas? Or destroying national treasures like Isis did in the Middle East? Or literally smashing up the very infrastructure that they're demanding be improved? Feckin eejits the lot of them. :mad:

coylemj

CelticRambler wrote: »

They're not a group, it's just an excuse for feckin eejits to go on the rampage. Its a social media manipulation; the only reason the government has "caved in" is because there's no-one to negotiate with.

+1 it's a large scale version of what happened in Dublin during the 'Love Ulster' march a few years ago when several unconnected nutters decided it was 'throw stones at the cops and break windows' Saturday. They even threw stones at Charlie Bird (RTE's star reporter at the time) down in O'Connell St!

Muahahaha

News reporting that they are drafting in police from outside Paris and are planning on having 90,000 officers on the streets. OP might be better off looking for a day trip outside of Paris because it seems all the main tourist attractions are going to be closed.

CelticRambler

Not so much police from outside Paris (that's pretty normal - the riot police go wherever they're needed), but they're bringing in equipment that wouldn't normally be used on the streets of Paris: a dozen armoured cars, to allow for more effective crowd clearing and protection against any escalation of the violence.

Fann Linn

coylemj wrote: »

+1 it's a large scale version of what happened in Dublin during the 'Love Ulster' march a few years ago when several unconnected nutters decided it was 'throw stones at the cops and break windows' Saturday. They even threw stones at Charlie Bird (RTE's star reporter at the time) down in O'Connell St!

Macron has suspended his fuel levies for 6 months so they've had some effect.
Looking forward to seeing what happens next June at the start of holiday season. I reckon these hikes will be consigned to the same bin which contains Irish Water charges.

CelticRambler

That may be. Of course a percentage of these taxes are a direct result of Hollande scrapping the Ecotax on HGVs under pressure from Breton hauliers. That was a reasonable "polluter-pays" system, for which the infrastructure was put in place on time and under budget; but instead of facing down the protests, Holland scrapped it completely, saddled France with a €1bn bill for an unfulfilled contract ... and put the tax on everyone's diesel instead. Macron was elected on a platform of doing things differently, and getting France out of the economic hole it's been in for the last 20 years. Ironically, now he's being criticised for keeping the very promises he made during his election campaign ...

holystungun9

Muahahaha wrote: »

News reporting that they are drafting in police from outside Paris and are planning on having 90,000 officers on the streets. OP might be better off looking for a day trip outside of Paris because it seems all the main tourist attractions are going to be closed.

Yeah, not a big deal. I come here regularly enough and just had the best sleep in so a lazy day round the city is fine. I think they closed 14 or more major sites so yeah, pity the folks who are here trying to tick stuff of their list.

CelticRambler

Ah, I wouldn't feel too sorry for any list-tickers who didn't give themselves more than a single day!

Thirty-six metro stations closed today, including all of Metro N°1 between Gare de Lyon and Porte Maillot. https://www.europe1.fr/societe/gilets-jaunes-a-paris-quelles-sont-les-stations-de-metro-fermees-a-paris-3816185 Not necessarily a bad thing for tourists - much better to visit the city on foot at ground level.

Atlantic Dawn

Looking at the preperations for today it looks like it's all going to kick off.

Suckit

It has started
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1jMKgOMqNLlKL
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1vAGRyYVPmgKl
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1YqGornLanNKv
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1mnxeOeoyXRGX
The amount of Police! :eek:

4068ac1elhodqr

If the protesters had any sense they could simply have called off all protests for the day,
leaving the state with massive overtime bills and empty streets.

If the French people really wanted lower retirement ages, 4-day working weeks and free childcare,
they should've voted in the other chap, and not Macron.

0lddog

https://www.france24.com/en/live

Muahahaha

holystungun9 wrote: »

Yeah, not a big deal. I come here regularly enough and just had the best sleep in so a lazy day round the city is fine. I think they closed 14 or more major sites so yeah, pity the folks who are here trying to tick stuff of their list.

Ah well thats grand so, at least youve seen the main sights on previous trips. Paris is such a beautiful city to just walk around, it wouldnt bother me if the main sites were closed as theres still plenty to see.

munchkin_utd

Angela Unimportant Plate wrote: »

If the protesters had any sense they could simply have called off all protests for the day,
leaving the state with massive overtime bills and empty streets.

If the French people really wanted lower retirement ages, 4-day working weeks and free childcare,
they should've voted in the other chap, and not Macron.

funny, one protester was on telly and was saying his mother was earning only 900 a month (note, less than irish dole and less than irish non contributory pension) and had to pay tax (note, in Ireland you can earn 1700 a month before paying tax) and he was on the streets for that and not for the super cushy stuff that the unions keep pushing for and we hear so much about in the news.

Anyhow, I'll be driving through France next week to get to the paradise on earth (well... welfare and low tax wise, definitely not weather wise) that is Ireland and I'm wondering if anyone has any website that details where road blockages might be in France at any particular time.
I'm thinking more a proper autoroute or government site rather than Google or Waze.

munchkin_utd

ok, I found some info for whats happening nationwide (thanks to German adac )
heres the government website with national road disruptions
http://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/maintenant.html

heres a map of France with details of all blockades with details of local protest facebook pages and whatnot.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1KpiLiS657xM-oR5eBHFSvP9lQM2Eyruh&ll=46.339494342250916%2C2.0916594173576186&z=7

4068ac1elhodqr

munchkin_utd wrote: »

funny, one protester was on telly and was saying his mother was earning only 900 a month (note, less than irish dole and less than irish non contributory pension) and had to pay tax (note, in Ireland you can earn 1700 a month before paying tax) and he was on the streets for that and not for the super cushy stuff that the unions keep pushing for and we hear so much about in the news.

Anyhow, I'll be driving through France next week to get to the paradise on earth (well... welfare and low tax wise, definitely not weather wise) that is Ireland and I'm wondering if anyone has any website that details where road blockages might be in France at any particular time.
I'm thinking more a proper autoroute or government site rather than Google or Waze.

Don't tell the Jean-Paul, Ann-Marie & Mu about the golden dole, sure they'll drop their placards and be on the next Ferry over to the langage school.

On the other hand you may soon be able to buy a spacious country chateau near a vineyard from the proceeds of a car boot full of cheese & wine landing at Dover for the peckish upper-crust members of the moog-ish brexiteers.

The French could have taken a gamble on Mélenchon's, but instead went with a unoriginal Macron. Mel had offered them a tastey, (but slightly fanciful) offering:

- Early retirement, free childcare, labour rights, 4-day work weeks.

- €100bn economic stimulus plan funded by government borrowing.

- End what he calls a "presidential monarchy", more power to the people and parliment

- Environmental protection, maybe free bikes and trees for every household?

- Increased labour rights (35hr work-weeks and the French 2hr lunch, are a thing of the past now. Even though this still had better productivity than the UK's 40+ work-weeks, filled with meetings about meetings, train delays, traffic jams, and al desko potnoodle selfies.

- 100% income tax on French residents who earn over €360,000 a year.

CelticRambler

munchkin_utd wrote: »

funny, one protester was on telly and was saying his mother was earning only 900 a month ... and had to pay tax ... and he was on the streets for that and not for the super cushy stuff that the unions keep pushing for and we hear so much about in the news.

Well either he's an ignorant peasant, or his mother is spinning him a yarn. No-one in France earning 900€ a month would be paying any income tax. Depending on family circumstances, you can earn twice or three times that amount before hitting the tax threshold.

He might be referring to social security contributions, which is a whole other story (due from the very first Euro you earn :mad:) - but then that's the money that pays for your health coverage (currently a few billion in the red), your contributory pension (currently a few tens of billions in the red), your non-contributory pension (currently a few hundreds of billions in the red, mainly due to people retiring in their fifties and living till their late nineties) and miscellaneous other handouts.

CelticRambler

Angela Unimportant Plate wrote: »

35hr work-weeks and the French 2hr lunch, are a thing of the past now.

Don't know where you heard that from. 35-hour weeks and that fecking 2-hour lunch break are the bane of my working life. I don't get paid for sitting around waiting to get back to whatever I was doing at 11:55; and it's a pain in the hole working 35 hours stretched over six days when you could get everything done in three-and-a-half days.

I got so fed up with it last year, I had to go and work some 90-hour weeks in England to feel like I'd made good use of my time ... (It was lovely - earned more in four weeks in England than three months in France, hourly rate was pretty much the same.)

4068ac1elhodqr

CelticRambler wrote: »

Don't know where you heard that from. 35-hour weeks and that fecking 2-hour lunch break are the bane of my working life. I don't get paid for sitting around waiting to get back to whatever I was doing at 11:55; and it's a pain in the hole working 35 hours stretched over six days when you could get everything done in three-and-a-half days.

I got so fed up with it last year, I had to go and work some 90-hour weeks in England to feel like I'd made good use of my time ... (It was lovely - earned more in four weeks in England than three months in France, hourly rate was pretty much the same.)

Guess the public sector might still be rolling with it, maybe enjoy the Fra 35hrww before the UBI gig-economy takes hold with a scrabble for 4hr blocks.

Did a fortnight contract of 96hrs in Ldn years ago, fun and games until one of the team starts to hallucinate and she walks into the door frame instead of the office door opening. Their company liquidated shortly after when the combined invoice & LBA rolled in for them.

CelticRambler

Angela Unimportant Plate wrote: »

Guess the public sector might still be rolling with it, maybe enjoy the Fra 35hrww before the UBI gig-economy takes hold with a scrabble for 4hr blocks.

Quite a way to go yet. The permanent "CDI" job-for-life is still very much the holy grail sought by every young person here, not helped by "careers guidance" people telling jobseekers that it looks bad if you've got a string of short-term contracts on your CV. Filling those time-limited gaps in the (private sector) is how I earn my living, when the natives won't get out of bed for anything less than a CDI. :cool:

4068ac1elhodqr

Under pressure, Macron said the government had been ordered to introduce “concrete measures” from 1 January:

Including increase the minimum wage by €100 per month. Overtime would be exempt from tax and social charges and a planned tax on pensions under €2,000 a month would be cancelled. All employers “who can” were asked to give workers a tax-free bonus at the end of the year. Interesting.