RE - the worker strike, glad I spent most of my time south of the river Seine. It also explains why there was a police brigade doing laps around the Place de la Concorde, Louvre area. Also, it seemed there was heightened security around the Eiffel Tower. Everything is fenced off, you can see it and go up it, but you can't go to that park to take a picture that will inevitably become your facebook picture because you want everyone to know that you went to Paris. Anyway, I haven't seen any violence is the point that I'm trying to make, but I've also not gone out looking for it. I knew about the General Strike, but I can't say I knowingly avoided the Louvre (actually walked by it in the afternoon). France loves to strike and it seems like the Euro is giving them more media coverage to get across their agendas. More power to them, I guess.