French vacationers jam highways

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PARIS, July 21 (UPI) -- French vacationers forced into their cars by an Air France job action jammed highways Saturday, creating more than 200 miles of traffic jams.

Trains from Paris to the beaches on the Mediterranean were also packed, Radio France Internationale reported. Air France canceled one-third of its 200 scheduled flights Saturday and predicted similar disruptions Sunday.

Police said the worst problems were on the A6, which connects the Paris area with Lyon and the A7 from Lyon down the Rhone Valley to Marseille. At 12:30 p.m., they reported traffic jams on all highways extended for 409 kilometers (about 250 miles), beating last Saturday's 319 kilometers (200 miles), but by 2 p.m. traffic was said to be easing up.

The national rail company SNCF said it expected more than 1 million people on its high-speed trains during the weekend.

Once holiday-makers got to the south, they were likely to run into more problems, with police warning drivers to be careful of brush fires. Those who stayed in Paris could look forward to the grand finale Sunday of the Tour de France, likely to turn the city into a traffic nightmare.