End of hope of Olympics for Paris?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4335043.stm

France is in the grip of a one-day general strike, just as Paris hosts a team of inspectors from the International Olympic Committee.

With the city brought to a standstill due to strikes, what will the IOC think?
It must damage their chances - after all, if they will strike during the 'inspection' visit, are they not just as likely to strike during the games?

Those French unions really know how to kick up a stink.

[punky]

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

Those French unions really know how to kick up a stink.

They are famous for it. It is funny, they are still known as surrender-monkeys from WW2, but all they ever do now is fight and protest everything. French truckers are another case in point.

I'd like to think it will ruin France's olympic hopes, but I doubt it. The IOC would probably try and overlook it, but imagine it they striked during the olympics

Surrender monkeys.... lol

[Chris W]

yay

more chance of the olympics coming to london

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4335043.stm
With the city brought to a standstill due to strikes, what will the IOC think?
It must damage their chances - after all, if they will strike during the 'inspection' visit, are they not just as likely to strike during the games?
Those French unions really know how to kick up a stink.

The Fench are in a much better positon I doubt very much if the public service strikes will affect the IOC decison. The French bid is very strong and likely to win, whereas London's transport system is a complete shambles and much of the work is hardly off the drawing boards.

Originally Posted by Gogogo

The Fench are in a much better positon I doubt very much if the public service strikes will affect the IOC decison. The French bid is very strong and likely to win, whereas London's transport system is a complete shambles and much of the work is hardly off the drawing boards.

Frankly, I want the Olympics to go to Paris. The French have always been rather good at Les Grands Projets, and I don't think I could stand the embarrassment of watching the Games getting dumped on from a great height by the same kind of bureaucracy that gave us the Millennium Dome, Wembley and Pickets Lock.

In fact, the only thing that would warm my heart about the Games going to London would be all those smug cockneys getting thumped in the council tax to help pay for it.

[TheBlueRaja]

I envy them, i wish people here had the balls to do the same thing and stick up for themselves.

[Chris W]

Originally Posted by Gogogo

The Fench are in a much better positon I doubt very much if the public service strikes will affect the IOC decison. The French bid is very strong and likely to win, whereas London's transport system is a complete shambles and much of the work is hardly off the drawing boards.

having experienced the transport services in london and paris i can safely say that london is a lot better- i am always confused as to why people are always using the transport as an excuse.

The tube network is extremely good- better than the paris metro, and when there are events at wembley huge numbers of extra tubes are laid on, and after the number of events i have been to (both at the stadium and arena) i have not had to wait more than 10minutes before a tube arrives.

London also has the advantage of a regular cheap bus service- something which i could not find at all in Paris.
__________________

Originally Posted by Chris T

In fact, the only thing that would warm my heart about the Games going to London would be all those smug cockneys getting thumped in the council tax to help pay for it.

Oi! i'll be living there from the summer, so no thank you to the extra council tax!! but if i can rent a room out for the period of the olymics and make loads of money though....

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

Oi! i'll be living there from the summer, so no thank you to the extra council tax!! but if i can rent a room out for the period of the olymics and make loads of money though....

I wouldn't live in London if you paid me. If you want to avoid Ken's Games Tax, you need an address outside Greater London. I'd consider living outside the city anyway, surely you could find somewhere cheaper to live, unless for some reason you actually have to be close to the city?

[Chris W]

Originally Posted by Chris T

I wouldn't live in London if you paid me. If you want to avoid Ken's Games Tax, you need an address outside Greater London. I'd consider living outside the city anyway, surely you could find somewhere cheaper to live, unless for some reason you actually have to be close to the city?

well my girly works in central london (as a hairdresser). She has a lot of private clients near her salon in the evenings and it would be loads of hassle to travel in and out of london just for a 20minute evening appointment.

Also her house is only a short stagger from our regular drinking hole

In a couple of years time, we will move to then suburbs, but generally it is as expensive to live in a suburb as it is to live in central london.

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

having experienced the transport services in london and paris i can safely say that london is a lot better- i am always confused as to why people are always using the transport as an excuse.

The tube network is extremely good- better than the paris metro, and when there are events at wembley huge numbers of extra tubes are laid on, and after the number of events i have been to (both at the stadium and arena) i have not had to wait more than 10minutes before a tube arrives.

London also has the advantage of a regular cheap bus service- something which i could not find at all in Paris.

I have to disagree, I'm afraid. I lived in Paris when I used to work for Air France, and commuted using public transport - it was great.

The Metro is more efficient, cleaner and safer than I've ever found the tube to be. I've always found the tube to be more expensive than the Metro, but that may no longer be the case, as it's been several years since I've used either on a regular basis.

You also have the RER, which is used for more regional train journeys, as opposed to just the Metro. This is fast and efficient and cheap

Finally, the express trains (the TGVs) are absolutely fantastic. Imagine British Rail's service that is a helluva lot faster, is always on time, is comfortable and a pleasure to use, and is not affected by leaves or snow on the track - that's the TGV. We used to use it to go from Paris to Montpellier, if we didn't fly. It really is faultless, imo. Yet the French moan about the trains... if only they knew what things were like in other countries.

The bus service in Paris is absolutely great - trust me, I used to use it a lot after the Metro was closed, and I needed to get home after a night out. I've rarely used London's buses, but on the few occaisions I have, they've always been dirty, unconfortable, old double deckers that spew out enough carbon monoxide to poison a small African country. The Parisian buses are more modern and thus more efficient (including eco-friendly buses), and vastly more comfortable. They're better designed, with a separate door to allow people to alight whilst passengers are entering the bus, so you're not waiting at bus stops for ages, or getting hassled by people getting off whilst you're getting on - and they're bendy in the middle too!

In fact, the only area that I would say is not as good as it is in Blighty, is air travel. For some reason, they're a few years behind the UK.

Anyway, that's enough of a rant for now

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

yay

more chance of the olympics coming to london

But why London? It sometimes seems as if that's the only city in England.

I don't see why everything has to be London-centric. Pretty boring for the rest of us, as it's a long way to go for anything and thus costs a fortune to get there, never mind the prices when you get there.

If they pack even more into that corner of the country it'll tip up one day.

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

But why London? It sometimes seems as if that's the only city in England.I don't see why everything has to be London-centric. Pretty boring for the rest of us, as it's a long way to go for anything and thus costs a fortune to get there, never mind the prices when you get there.
If they pack even more into that corner of the country it'll tip up one day.

Unfortunately, it all started as bighead Ken's idea: got out of control. Quite agree a northern city would have been ideal, Manchester or even Glasgow, or even somewhere in Wales or Northern Ireland, that's where the investment and jobs are needed, not London.

I'm backing Paris. I'm something of a Francophile.

Olympics in London?

I'd hate it to be in London. The transport is a complete shambles, it'd be a catastrophe. It takes me about 3/4 of an hour to get from Euston to my Auntie's house in a cab, merely 4 miles away. London also has to be one of the most boring cities in the world, in my opinion.

I'd love for Paris to win, and they will. They have a great metro system, RER, TGV, with great links to European cities, three good airports (Apart from roofs collapsing) , and the city in general is just brilliant.