What’s happening in France this week

Monday

Paris Metro: Due to modernisation work, traffic will be interrupted between La Défense and Charles de Gaulle-Étoile stations from August 11th to 31st. A replacement bus service will run in both directions, but passengers are urged to allow for longer journey times and find alternative routes wherever possible.

RER: Services are suspended on RER A between Le Vésinet-Le Pecq and Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the Yvelines department until August 22nd for track equipment, sleepers, and ballasts to be renewed. 

Meanwhile, to renew the track equipment ahead of the arrival of new trains, RER B services will be suspended after the Denfert-Rochereau station from 10.45pm until the end of services on August 11th and 12th, August 14th, and from August 18th to 22nd. 

Tuesday

Paris bicycles: The cost of hiring a self-service Vélib’ bicycle in Paris and the ’burbs will increase for the first time since 2018 for some subscribers. The V-Plus subscription will increase from €3.10 to €4.30 per month – or €51.60 for annual payments 

V-Max subscriptions will also change, eliminating the two free daily journeys on electric Vélib’ cycles. These will now be charged at €0.50 per trip, with subsequent journeys charged at €2.  V-Max Solidaire subscribers will retain existing conditions. The standard subscription price remains unchanged and remains at €9.30/month.

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Wednesday

Commercial frontier: The second commercial launch of Ariane 6 is scheduled, from Kourou in Guyane.

Football: Paris Saint-Germain face Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in the Super Cup in Udine, Italy.

Thursday

Going up: France’s inflation figure for July will be confirmed in Paris.

Cabaret Vert: Bigflo and Oli, Vampire Weekend, Will Smith and Queens of the Stone Age headline this year’s festival in Charleville-Mézières, which gets under way on Thursday. Details here.

Friday

Public holiday: The French get to enjoy a public holiday this week – l’Assomption – offering a long weekend, and meaning there will be some closures and altered operating hours.

Traffic update: Roads watchdog Bison Futé has flagged every weekend in August as having ‘very difficult’ or ‘extremely difficult’ conditions on the country’s roads – and this weekend sees the worst of the conditions on return routes as holidaymakers head home, with traffic trouble expected a day earlier than usual because of the public holiday.

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Paris transport: The installation of the new cathedral bridge in Saint-Denis is continuing. From August 15th to 17th, there will be a final interruption to restore signalling, which will affect lines B, D, H, K, and TER services.

Football: The new Ligue 1 season, France’s domestic top-flight competition, kicks off, with Rennes v Marseille the first game broadcast on the new Ligue 1+ channel. The 18 sides will play 34 games each in a season that runs though to next May – with international, domestic and European competition breaks – before crowning PSG champions.

Saturday

Strikes – Compounding possible August travel difficulties, rail union Sud Rail has filed an open-ended strike notice until September 1st, although they say they’re planning weekend-long or 2-3 day strikes on dates which are yet to be announced. 

Meanwhile, employees of Vinci, one of the companies that runs the French motorway network, have filed strike notices covering the summer holiday period, especially on the A8 in southern France. Vinci says that drivers should not be impacted.

And French air traffic controllers remain in dispute with their bosses, but at the time of writing have not filed any fresh strike notices after their hugely disruptive two-day strike at the start of June. Find all the latest strike info here.

Public transport: Track replacement work at Livry-sur-Seine, Seine-et-Marne, and essential platform modifications at Fontaine-le-Port will lead to disruption this weekend, as well as from Monday to Friday between 10.30am and 3.30pm until August 29th.

Rugby: The first round of this year’s SuperSevens tournament kicks off in Mont-de-Marsan, south-west France. The competition then moves to Dax for the weekend of August 23rd, before heading to Pau for the third round on August 30th – the same weekend as the start of the ProD2, and a week before the Top 14 gets under way.

The SuperSevens final, at La Défense Arena in Nanterre, is in February 2026.