My First French Strike

Church in Versailles

Okay, before I begin my rant about the french strike, here are a few pics from my 2nd trip to Versailles:

Inside the Church in Versailles

The Chapel in the chateau of Versailles

The hallway of mirrors

The awful exhibit in the beautiful chateau

Marije, Myself, and Sara outside the chateau

Now we can discuss the strike! Last week, it seemed that everything was gonna blow over. It didn't really effect me until I had to fly to Dublin on Friday. Yeah, so the RER and the Metro weren't running as often as possible. Since I couldn't get off of work on Friday, I wouldn't be able to risk the amount of time I had to get to the airport via the train. Luckily, my host family let me drive my car. That wasn't fun. I thought rush hour in Atlanta was bad... sheesh! I had to pay 44 euro to park my car for two days.... yeah, that was a lot of unexpected money! Thanks again, strike. I got to the gate with 15 minutes to spare. Thank goodness.

I arrived back from Dublin on Sunday (posting about Dublin tomorrow), only to find that you basically can't get gas anywhere. I have about a quarter tank left.... let's hope the strike ends soon. Yesterday I had to go to the market for the family. After buying our fresh fruits and veggies, I stopped by the supermarket to get myself some yogurt. All of the sudden I heard screaming from outside. About 200 or so high schoolers were marching down the street. The managers locked the door to the supermarket and no one was allowed to leave until the protesters were gone. I think I was the only person in the entire store that seemed phased by this! After I was able to leave, I was driving away and some students came up and slapped my car. I'm not really sure what they thought this accomplished, but I was just glad they didn't throw rocks! Thank god the protesters weren't violent here in Saint Germain en Laye.

Next week is a big holiday for the kids here in France. I was kinda bummed when I found out I was working. A lot of my friends have time off. Some made plans to travel to different countries. Unfortunately because of the strike, some of their flights are now cancelled or could be soon. What a bummer.

I was talking to a local last night about the strike. He explained to me that basically everyone who is striking (metro, train, oil, schools, etc) all will retire in their 50's regardless of the new retirement age. The are striking for all the others. Wait!?! Mostly everyone I've met thinks the strike is ridiculous. So basically, the people who are trying to get to work on time, would like gas in their car, and want their kids to learn something in school must not only work 2 years longer, but now have obstacles to overcome in their everyday life because of someone else taking up their offense? Interesting....

Dear Strike,

You can go away now.

Sincerely,
Christine