Should I go to a wedding in France next week?

[LargeDeviation]

Due to attend a wedding of a close friend about 40 miles north of Paris next week. Have booked (non-refundable) Eurostar and hotel rooms. Was planning to get a train between Gare du Nord and the small town where the wedding is.

I see rioters with automatic weapons and fireworks not just in Paris/Marseille, but even in small towns. They seem to be destroying anything vaguely linked to the French state includnig pharmacies, libraries etc as well as the usual burning of cars. Macron still hasn't declared a state of emergency.

Foreign office advice is ambiguous but doesn't advise against all or non-essential travel, so don't think travel insurance would pay out if I cancel.

I’d honestly just loose my money. Will the wedding still go ahead?

I’d wait and see. suspect things will have calmed down by then- these things have a tendency to run themselves out.

If you are travelling in the day and are out in a small town it will most likely be fine.

@Seashor Haven't heard anything about the wedding itself yet. I imagine the bride and groom are stressed enough about the riots and don't want to add to their worries at this stage if I can avoid it.

@Rainyday4321 If it was the UK then sure, but the gilet jaunes and pension protests went on for quite a while, and these riots seem far worse from the footage I've seen. Also, I would be more confident in my ability to navigate any problem in the UK; I only speak very rudimentary French.

Small towns won’t be seeing the same kind of scenes as Marseille etc - no way. By next weekend it will all have died down I would say. Gare du Nord will have a big police presence for sure. It’s hardly like going to Khartoum when it was all kicking off a few weeks ago…

we will be still going this week unless eurostar cancels. Head down keep out of trouble- look english-not hard. They are not cross with us this time

That's like saying if there were riots in London you wouldn't go to Reading (or a small town near Reading). I would go, unless something significantly changed before then.

We're off to France shortly and I'm definitely not cancelling, we're not going to any cities or bigger towns and weren't planning to anyway.
I would go if I were you then obviously.

Am in France now. Wouldn't occur to me to change my plans if not in a hotspot area.

Wouldn’t go anywhere near france. they seem to have continual issues with riots and terrorism. That guy stabbing babies in a park will haunt me forever.

Yes.

I wouldn’t go to Paris Gare du Nord at the moment. Perhaps wait and see what happens. Can you change the date on the tickets if you don’t go?

If there isn't any trouble in the location you're going to, I would go as these events are usually very localised.

In the 1980s when the Toxteth riots were happening in Liverpool a young relative over from Australia refused to visit our family because she was scared. We lived in an affluent, peaceful small town about 20 miles from Liverpool with no hint of disturbance and thought she was completely over reacting.

I'm going to see the 1975 on the 12th in Paris, I really hope things settle down!!!

Could you drive / ferry it instead to avoid the stations?

Friends of mine happily in the garden with a bottle of wine in Amiens. Sent a photo. All.is fine.

Yes , go , we are currently in grandezas the issues seems limited to certain areas

@Comtesse According to https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/30/mapping-french-protests-over-teen-killing, there were riots/protests in Paris, Amiens, Annecy, Bordeaux, Dijon, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Pau, Roubaix, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Tourcoing. Seems a lot more than just Paris/Marseilles. The town the wedding is in is not listed but that list is as of yesterday and it seems the riots are still getting worse at the moment...

@Tulipblank Yes but in your analogy, I would be going through London at a station which doesn't have a good reputation at the best of times, which is near the epicentre of the riots.

@justwantobeamum France does seem to have some serious social issues but whilst I guess most of us would take the chance of encountering a lone crazy person, widespread riots change the level of risk involved.

@ButterCrackers Unfortunately not. I was very keen to go and have booked completely non-refundable non-changeable options.

@IAmAnIdiot123 Unfortunately not.

I am minded to wait and see until about 1 or 2 days before travelling until making a decision. It would be worse if I had to cancel at the last minute and give almost no notice for catering changes etc but I hope my friend would understand.

Surely your friend who is actually in France would be the best person to ask?

OP it's still confined to major cities though, although I do take your point about transiting through Paris. It won't spread to small towns though.

Travelling to France next Saturday, no way will I cancel.

It will blow over.

I really think it'll be fine. It will be focussed on certain locations and things always looks worse and more widespread when reported in the media. Lots of people in France will be getting on with day to day life. Go and enjoy the wedding.

You'll be fine.

@LargeDeviation

Small town/suburban France calling...no problems here..

As mentioned a few minutes back elsewhere on MN our local major city is on that Al Jazeera map (and is in your list). The reality was that the riot was basically a half day "event", police and youth banging heads, bricks and CS gas, but all confined to a housing estate outside the ring road and absolutely no disruption in town itself. I have relatives at a fac in the city itself and they've heard of pretty much zero disruption/trouble since, though some public transport is reduced late at night, which has screwed their weekend social plans.

Across France it looks tonight as if (fingers crossed) a few hot spots aside it's calming down.

Having lived/travelled/worked here through a few episodes over the years of it's usually very easy for the general public to avoid getting caught up in any trouble.

It might be worth bearing in mind (or not) that for some time now the stations/airports get extra protection in the form of the French military as part of operation Vigipirate..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigipirate