No Cause For Alarm

Not Yet At Least - Maybe Later

Paris:- Monday, 18. May 1998:- Transportation around Paris pops up in several places in this issue. Linda Thalman writes about the trans-urban RER network, and my own M-R writes about her run-ins with traffic cops.

With the extra visitors expected soon for the World Cup, I think it is time to discuss the possibility of strikes by public transport workers.

First and foremost, very few transport strikes are total. There is always a 'minimum' service at least. Both the management and the workers attempt to make the work stoppages as painless as possible - but it is up to you to be a bit more alert during un-normal situations.

'Minimum' service usually means that there will be one out of two, three or four - trains, métros or buses - operating. This means the service will be 20 to 33 percent of normal. Both management and workers go to some pains to post the times of trains or buses that are in operation.

This is where 'being alert' comes in. You need to look for these temporary schedules and then read them. Watch what other travelers are doing: they may be reading panels with printed 'strike' schedules, or looking at the postings of schedules on TV monitors.

As a visitor, making sense of these temporary postings will not be easy - so it's a good idea to watch what other passengers are doing. Broadcast announcements will probably be meaningless garble, so don't try to make anything out of them.

If other passengers are not 'cancelling' their tickets, if they are taking shortcuts through open doorways, you can do it too. If they are groaning in frustation, you can do it too. Ride in first class if you feel like it. Parisians, out of habit, probably will not switch to first class wagons - but if there is a strike, there almost certainly will be no ticket controllers. This will be signalled by the open ticket barriers.

If there is a transport strike while you are in Paris, you may not even notice it. As a rule, there will be no visible activity by union members; no pickets, no train drivers parading around train stations with signs saying, 'Mgt Unfair to Night Drivers' or 'RER 'C' Stands for Crummy!'

So while you are waiting for trains or buses, remember that every labor conflict has two sides. If it affects a service like public transport, you will know that somebody on both sides is being unreasonable - and the actual conflict is a long-standing one. In other words, there has already been plenty of time to resolve the dispute.

Traditionaly, strikes of all sorts do not tend to happen near or during the summer holiday season - except for airline pilots, ground crew or air traffic controlers - because there are eight other months of the year which are suitable for work stoppages.

The situation of the World Cup in France, starting next month, is going to require a serious increase in transport services, and this is already well-planned. In order to make it work, both management and labor will be compromising with their own June-July holiday plans in order to handle the extra traffic.

Local newspapers are trying to make residents jittery with hints about 'social-conflicts' upsetting the smooth course of the World Cup tournament, but I think, as I've suggested, that the strike season will end the day before the matches start.

I could be wrong though. The truck drivers who were on strike throughout France last winter say that deals made then have no been honored, and they are publicaly hinting that they are considering some 'action' during the World Cup if they don't get some satisfaction before then.

If it does turn out I'm wrong, you can expect me to admit it here. If you are on your way to Paris, keep a close watch on Metropole - 'FlashNews' is called this because it can be put online within minutes or hours. Not days, weeks or months.

Each Sunday at 16:30, there is a free concert of classical music in the Parc Floral de Paris, on the Esplanade du Château de Vincennes. The next performance will be 'Rameau, Hotteterre' put on by the Concert of the Hôtel Dieu. Following the renaissance and barock in May will be comic opera in June.

The entire program runs through the summer, to the final concert on Sunday, 27. September. Entry to the Parc Floral is ten francs; and you should bring your own refreshments. Métro: Château de Vincennes. Info. Tel.: 01 43 43 92 95.

In addition to the jazz and classical concerts in the Parc Floral, there are hundreds or other concerts scheduled to take place in parks around the city - from now until September. Like the Parc Floral, entry costs ten francs for the concerts at the Bagatelle, but most of the others should be free.

The program can be obtained the the reception bureau of the Hôtel de Ville, at the Paris Tourist Office on the Champs-Elysées, or by consulting the programs posted at the parks themselves.

A cabaret spectacle named 'CanCans' - after the style of Toulouse-Lautrec - is 'newly installed' at the 'mythic' location of the Hôtel du Nord. This is the real Hôtel du Nord and not the movie stage made for the film - at 102. quai de Jemmapes, Paris 10. Info. Tel.: 01 40 40 99 20.

Is actually called 'Le Loup du Faubourg' and is also a cabaret, which runs all year long. I don't know if it is experimental or the way cabaret is going these days, because they have acts which include Mimi Bastille's 'neo-realist' songs and 'Bals Clandestin,' which involve accordeons and guitars. Maybe it's ordinary stuff with funny names. I think you pay your entry by buying drinks and you can do this at 21. rue de la Roquette, Paris 11. Info. Tel.: 01 40 21 90 95.

For the second year running - er - this is the second time - ah - the 'Festival Onze' is an arrondissement party, which runs from Thursday, 28. May until Sunday, 7. June.

I actually have the program for this here someplace, because I stumbled on to the organizers some weeks back while snooping around the city hall of the 11th. I am not going to try to find the program right now, but I remember that just about every br, dancehall, musician, singer, performer and all the good citizens, have a good, big party for the duration.