Étranger Things: “La bloquée” vs “la grève”: a foreigner’s field guide to being charmingly late in France

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If you’re new here and your plans were just politely steamrolled by democracy-in-action, bienvenue. Today we decode two French classics that often get translated the same way in English—bloquée and grève—but feel very different when you meet them in the wild.

For Your Sanity

  • Grève = workers stop working (strike). Trains nap. Teachers vanish. Your baguette, however, may still be warm. Protected by law, very official, and usually announced. (Service Public)

  • Bloquée (really un blocage, plus cousins barrage filtrant and opération escargot) = people block or slow stuff (roads, roundabouts, depots) to make a point. Your bus exists… but moves at the speed of philosophy. (Wikipedia)

The vibe check (scientific, peer-reviewed by my corner boulanger)

  • Are there red union flags, drums, and clever signs, and the metro says “service minimum”? Congrats, it’s a grève. Smile, wish folks bon courage, and practice your platform picnic. (Service Public)

  • Are there tractors guarding a roundabout, or a rolling conga line of cars doing 20 km/h with hazard lights? That’s an opération escargot—not a culinary event—aka a blocage. (Wikipedia)

  • Is the school gate mysteriously wrapped in signs and palettes while the rest of the city functions? That’s a blocage (students do these); learning still happens—just mostly in group chats. (Le Figaro Etudiant)

My first week translation fail

I told my neighbor: “Je crois qu’il y a la bloquée.” He blinked, smiled that very French ah, c’est mignon smile, and said: “On dit un blocage.” Then he added, “Ici, il y a une révolution tous les six mois.” (Reader, that was a joke… mostly.) Meanwhile, my bus was running but the nearby school was shut. I declared the revolution on pause, bought a croissant, and arrived late to class with a culturally acceptable excuse: “Désolé—blocage.”

Spotter’s Guide (laminated for your wallet)

  • If workers stop → grève.

  • If traffic stops → blocage.

  • If traffic crawls → opération escargot (snail parade).

  • If access is partly allowed → barrage filtrant (they let some through, usually after a chat). (Wikipedia)

Pocket vocab (say these and locals will adopt you)

  • une grève — a strike (work stoppage; it’s a protected right). (vie-publique.fr)

  • un blocage — a blockade (entrances/roads deliberately blocked). (Le Monde.fr)

  • un barrage filtrant — a “filter” roadblock (slow/let-through checkpoint).

  • une opération escargot — a go-slow convoy to snarl traffic (snails not included). (Wikipedia)

  • un préavis de grève — formal notice before a strike (often in public services). (Service Public)

  • service minimum — reduced service during a strike (your train has a social life). (Service Public)

Survive & thrive (with a grin)

  1. Check before you trek. Apps will show “perturbations” (a poetic word for “good luck”). (Service Public)

  2. Pack patience + pastries. A pain au chocolat is France’s universal conflict de-escalation tool.

  3. Learn the magic phrase: “Bon courage !” It opens hearts (not necessarily roads).

  4. Have a Plan B (Bus? Bike? Baguette?) If the city is a parking lot, go by feet—à pied, chic and strike-proof.

  5. Don’t honk; chat. At a barrage filtrant, a friendly exchange can get you waved through faster than a horn ever will.

Why it matters

Getting the nuance right is peak Aixois diplomacy. Saying “strike” when it’s really a blocage is like calling a Provençal rosé “fruit punch”—people will still be kind, but they’ll also lovingly correct you. And that, friends, is half the fun of learning French here: small confusions, big smiles… occasionally parked behind a tractor.

Have you been delightfully delayed by a grève or gloriously glued to a roundabout by an escargot procession? Drop your story (and your best tips) in the comments—newcomers will thank you!