Planes, trains and metros were canceled, and postal workers and teachers stayed home in a nationwide day of defiance against government economic policies -- notably plans to let the French work longer hours.
By Thursday's end, unions hailed their action a success, and some promised a follow-up.
For Paris, where commuters crammed aboard the few trains running, the timing was unfortunate. The strikes coincided with a visit by Olympic inspectors assessing the French capital's bid to host the 2012 Summer Games. Unions pledged not to disrupt the Olympic committee's visit and were working Thursday with Paris police to ensure that protesters and the IOC inspectors did not cross paths.
Some 35,000 protesters march through Paris, police said, answering the call of unions for a massive turnout to defend France's 35-hour workweek and to push for more jobs and salary talks. Another 35,000 marched in Bordeaux, and 25,000 in Marseille, police said.
The Communist-backed CGT union claimed that street demonstrations drew a million protesters.
Rush-hour road traffic snaked for kilometers outside the capital; many schools were shut; and French newspapers devoted their front pages to the mess. Conservative daily El Figaro carried the banner headline: "France Paralyzed."
Paris' commuter trains were badly hit by the strike which started after rush hour Wednesday and were to last until early yesterday. Up to 80 percent of suburban lines were suspended.
The Paris Metro was severely disrupted, with two of the city's 14 subway lines not running at all. Most Paris buses, specially bedecked with flags to welcome the International Olympic Committee visitors, were running but service on a dozen lines was rerouted because of street demonstrations.
Nationwide, roughly half of high-speed TGV trains, the pride of France's rail network, and one in three slower Corail trains were running, the SNCF said. Strikes by air traffic controllers meant delays of up to several hours for some air travelers at the two main Paris airports. Less than 20 percent of the controllers were off the job but enough to disable a critical control center.
Tuning-in to the latest news updates wasn't easy. Some all-news radio stations, including France Info and France-Inter, were disrupted by staff walkouts, forcing them to fill airtime with music.
France's postal service said 15 percent of its employees stayed home, while half the nation's teachers skipped class, according to the SNES trade union.
Francois Chereque, of the moderate CFDT union, said, "The CFDT is very attached to the 35-hour workweek," he said. "We will defend it until the end."
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