Tourists travelling to visit historic French landmarks the Eiffel Tower and Normandy's Mont Saint Michel have found their doors closed for part of the past two weeks, as striking workers complain of underinvestment and too many visitors., reports FRANCE 24.
Investment in Mont Saint Michel, a fortified tidal island topped by an abbey, is "not at an appropriate level for this fantastic monument", one staff representative said.
And an Eiffel Tower unionist last week warned that the cost of "major maintenance, renovation and conservation work" is being "underestimated" at the 125-year-old iron structure.
In Normandy, Herminia Amador Chacon of the CGT union said Mont Saint Michel workers "all have joint problems in the knees or the ankles" from staffing and guiding visitors around the site, which is accessible only by climbing 350 stairs.
Others are posted out in the wet, rainy Channel weather for hours on end, with one reception worker calling the spot "marvellous but badly heated".