Strikes at the Louvre and the Paris taxis

May 20, 2019 — Day 11 (Monday)

Strange day. We decided to take a walk and visit the Louvre after lunch. We left the house in light rain and took the Metro to Pont Neuf where we got out and walked over to Square du Vert-Galant and climbed down. We walked through the pretty little square jutting out into the Seine. Took lots of pictures and climbed back up to street level and crossed to the triangular Place Dauphine. We walked around it taking pictures, stopping briefly to watch a bookbinder at work. Place Dauphine is a favorite place in Paris. It's one of the quiet corners of the city.

We had decided to lunch at Café de l’Empire so started in that direction. We crossed Pont Neuf and walked past the Monnaie de Paris and the Institut de France, the French language police. Stopped by the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts to take pictures of statues in the courtyard. Continued along Quai Voltaire noting the Sennelier store was closed on Monday. Probably fortunate as I couldn’t spend money . . . At rue du Bac we turned toward Café de l’Empire. We were too early for lunch so walked up rue de Verneuil to see if Le Bonne Excuse was still open. Thankfully it is open so we’re planning our 55th anniversary lunch there. When we got back to l’Empire, we saw a few men walk in early so we joined them and got a great table by a window. We both got confit de canard for lunch and nougat ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert. As usual, it was delicious. The place was packed with a line outside but the two waiters handled it cheerfully.

After lunch we walked back to the Lion’s Gate at the Louvre where we usually walk right in. It was closed and padlocked so we went around to the Carrousel du Louvre entrance. We walked down and signs directed us to the northern entrance so we walked up but when we asked about entering the Louvre, they sent us back to where we had come in so we walked back. When Ed asked about entering the museum, the woman guard tersely told us we needed tickets. Nice, but no one seemed to be selling them. She told us we needed to go “up those stairs,” pointing to a nearby stairway so we climbed up . . . and found ourselves back outside. Crazy! We walked across to the Pyramid where they had a tent set up for people with tickets and a very long line for those of us who needed tickets. Catch 22 . . . we left. Seen it before! [We later learned that the Louvre staff staged a walk-out and they closed the museum for the day. Attendance at the Louvre has gone up 30% but they have cut staff and they were overwhelmed and frustrated and finally just walked out. Looking at the crowds, we understood.]

We walked back to the Tuileries down to the second pond and claimed a couple chairs to figure out what to do next. Decided we’d stop at a café for tea and check to see if Invalides was open on Monday. We crossed the Pont de la Concorde climbing around a lot of construction. We arrived in front of the Assemblée Nationale to a huge, very noisy traffic jam. Ed commented, “Look at all the taxis” as we crossed over to blvd. Saint-Germain heading for a café. At that point I realized it was probably a manifestation (demonstration). There was a line of taxis two or three abreast clear down blvd. Saint-Germain, all at a complete stop with horns honking and people yelling and police all over the place. We quickly decided a café on a side street would be a good idea so kept straight on rue Aristide Briand to Café Le Bourbon and claimed a table. A kir seemed a better idea than tea at this point so we ordered two that came with a small bowl of olives. I pulled out my phone to check news as we watched all the police outside our blocked-off street. It seems Paris taxi drivers were protesting Uber and had blocked traffic all over town including the Peripherique where they were burning tires and it was getting violent near the airports. The kirs tasted better all the time . . . [Brasserie Le Bourbon, 1 place du Palais Bourbon; tel: +33 (0)1 4551-5827; email: [email protected]; https://www.brasserie-bourbon.fr/]

It was pretty obvious we weren’t going to take a bus home so I dug out my Metro map and figured out how to get home on the Metro. We paid and left heading back through the striking taxis to get to our Metro station. No one bothered us and we zipped underground to leave the furor behind. We had two train changes but they were fast and not crowded so we were home in a half hour.

When we went to the grocery, rue Broca was partially closed by police at the Sorbonne Residence. By the time we returned, police were gone and all was quiet. Hope it stays that way! What an exciting day.