TCL - Full-Fledged Strike!Well, the day finally arrived, when a strike by some of the unions whose workers work for the TCL finally paralyzed the entire network. Up until now, I've been able to manage because the effect of the strikes have been limited, but today, ...!
Just to be sure I got to school today I got up at 6 A.M. and got out of my house before 7 A.M. Fortunately the bus running in front of my house was right there and

I was able to get down to the center of town without having to rent a bicycle or walking.
And so I stood there without knowing if a bus was going to come or not. Slowly but surely a group of people gathered around the same bus stop and waited anxiously.
Finally at 7:15 the bus came and we left with a full load at 7:29. By the time we arrived at school we were maybe 130% of capacity and straining to get there.
Going home was another story though. Since the non-French students had French classes until 7:30 all seven of us piled into a hatchback (yes, maybe a VW Golf-sized car) and headed towards downtown. It was quite comical, four Americans in the backseat and one Candian, one Russian and a Mexican sitting on his lap ... but we were all in good humor and we told jokes all the way back. Well, not jokes, but we kept each others spirits high. Even talked about having a Mexican-themed party sometime before the end of the year ...!
On my way back I rented a bicycle (the VeloV I've written about earlier) but since everybody had the same idea, I couldn't find a berth to return the bike, sort of like the way one circles around Chinatown looking for a parking space. Finally after backtracking downtown I managed to find an open stall and walked back to my apartment.
Strikes are certainly a lot of inconvenience (the B metro line was out of service today, forcing one of my friends to literally walk from one station down to Part Dieu train station because he had no other options), but they make the times when you do have service that much more sweet!