The French government has failed to convince union workers to end strikes which have now lasted for three weeks. The prolonged job walk-offs mean hundreds of thousands of people struggled to get home for the holidays.

France's public railway company has shut down several high-speed trains because of the strikes. Paris metro lines are closed or running well below capacity.  Damien Dramot, a Paris commuter, said: "I understand [the strike] but I'm not ok with it, as I think all French people are being held hostage and we have some difficulties to understand the goal." 

For the strikers, the goal is to block planned government pension reforms that would prevent early retirement for public workers. Strikers also believe President Emmanuel Macron's pension scheme will reduce payouts after retirement.

The transportation shutdowns have created challenges for shoppers and tourists at one of the busiest times of the year in Paris. A tourist from from Peru, Margaretta, said: "It is a bit tricky, we're walking everywhere, so we'll see how our knees hold up." 

Other tourists are beginning to feel the fatigue. "It's been a little bit crazy. I'm definitely having to plan a lot ahead, and I'm definitely getting less sleep in order to make it to the trains on time," said Ariranna, a tourist from the US.

State railway company Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) says nearly 200,000 travelers will have to cancel trips this week, and the disruptions could last into the new year. Polls suggest that 66 percent of the public still back the strikes.

But support may dry up as the impact deepens. The president of the Conféderation des Commerçants de France (Federation of French Merchants), Francois Polombi, said: "The thing we fear in France is the closing of stores if the state can't support them. The state must urgently give support to the smallest businesses, because if we don't, more will close." 

Small businesses like Beaucour, a brewery specializing in tartare, are feeling the sting. "I find the strikers egotistical, because they're thinking only of their own benefits," said Christophe Bartmann, the owner of Beaucour.

"They don't care at all about their impact on other people's lives, whether they're employees or business owners." Bartmann says his sales are down 30 percent because of transport disruptions. And if his staff can't make it to work, they don't get paid.

The government had hoped for a Christmas truce of sorts with the strikers, but it didn't happen. A rare bright spot in the chaos has been the return of a service to allow children, mostly young students, to travel alone over the Christmas holiday.

SNCF said it didn't have enough staff to offer supervision for children between four and 14-years-old to travel on its trains without a guardian. But after public outcry, SNCF staff came together so that 5,000 seats would be available, and concerned parents will be reunited with their kids.