"Free" Metro during Parisian strike?

I just got back from Paris and I noticed the first 2 days I was there, the metro was %26quot;free%26quot;. All the turnstiles were unlocked and everyone just walked thru. I had arrived by train at Gare du Nord and bought my carnet and inserted my first ticket to enter the Metro and then I realized the turnstile was wide open. And for the remainder of that day and all of the next day.. same thing. Since I knew no other way, I had assumed that they must just go on the %26quot;honor system%26quot;. ??

And at this same time I unfortunately discovered that there was a strike going on and all the %26#39;attractions%26#39; were closed (Louvre, D%26#39;Orsay, Arc, etc).

So I was just curious if anyone knows if they %26quot;open%26quot; the Metro when their striking? Or if it was just a coinidence... as I found this quite odd.

And since I%26#39;m mentioning the Metro--- I also noticed alot of people jumping the turnstiles. And I also had some crazy guy running back and forth and hitting me and others on the head as we tried to get into the extremely cramped trains. And I did see the pack of boys waiting to pickpocket the tourists. I walked past an obvious tourist standing in the middle of the Metro tunnels studying his map. I walked past him and saw a boy watching him from around a corner and motioning for his gang to come over. And the whole gang rushed past me (and slapped me on the behind as they went past). Lotsa interesting things going on in the Metro, lemme tell ya!

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I had a similar experience in January on the RER %26quot;C%26quot; line during a 2 day strike. There was nobody at the ticket counter and the turnstile was open. When I asked my colleages at work about it they told me that the station workers were probably letting people ride free as part of their strike but warned me that I could still be fined if caught. My guess is that most commuters at that time of day had a Carte Orange anyway and I was one of the few buying a ticket.

At the destination the turnstiles were also open but that may have been to keep the people flowing. It was not that way on my return in the evening.

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I would say it was related to the strike. I personally think that it should be free because the level of service is degraded. When i took the metro on the last strike the gates were open at some stations but not at others. I think the odds of getting fined are low. They reshuffle their personelle to keep the trians running. I doubt if they can staff people to verify tickets. It wouldnt be very good for PR handing out fines on a strike day.

As far as the guy slapping everyone, thats new to me! Not sure what that was all about.