Poor me. Part of my job description is to go on "holiday" (vacation) with the family. Boo hoo. The French schools are closed for the next week and a bit, and so we're due in Bretagne (Brittany) today. The trip didn't come without a hiccup, however.
You may or may not have heard that there have been a series of national strikes and protests going on here in France. The strikes/demonstrations are a result of the French government's proposal to change the age for retirement. In France, one could retire with a partial pension at 60, and for a full pension, 65. The government proposed bumping both those ages up by two years. This caused a "freak-out" among even university students, as it impacts their future quality-of-life as well.
While covered in the news, and even in American newspapers, (Boston Globe photos) I didn't see any protesting or violence in my version of Parisian life. I was, however, minimally impacted by the national strikes.
Monday night had me waiting over an hour for an RER train (only half were running). I went to a French lesson at 8:30, it ended at 9:30...I walked to the station and went to platform B for the train at 10:05. At 10:02, the screen went blank. The train wasn't coming. So, I went back down to the station to find that the next train was due at 10:55. Oh joy. Not that big of a deal other than being out a little later and being colder than I would have liked. Mild compared to having a brick thrown through your car window.
Due to the oil refinery strikes going on, loads of petrol (gas) stations are bone dry. Laure had to wait in a line over an hour long for petrol on Tuesday. It was questionable as to whether or not the family would be able to fill the (other) car with a full tank of petrol (gas) to make it the 400 kilometers (250ish miles) to Bretagne. The supply has run short all over France, and it was reported that Bretagne got hit the hardest. So, once we were there, it was unclear if we'd be able to fill up again, which could leave us stranded in the house for the duration of our stay!
A lot of flights were canceled/delayed....which slightly altered Liz Willson and her husband's arrival to Paris, and could have affected their departure on Thursday, but didn't. (In honesty, I wouldn't have minded them being stranded in Paris...had a lovely dinner with them on Friday 10/15, and would have loved to do it again).
I know of someone who was supposed to go to the Lady Gaga concert on Friday night. The Lady decided it best to avoid France in this time of unrest, and so it was cancelled.
As I said, the impact on my life has been minimal. In the end, the senate passed the bill to change the pension ages. (NY Times). So, now that all is calm (including the weather), I'm off to Bretagne tonight to rendez-vous with the family. They took the car, with a full tank of gas, and I am taking the train tonight to meet them. Otherwise, I'd be traveling on the roof of the car.
xo,
aKiP
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