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People queue at the Eurostar train check-in desk at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, Friday. Paris' Charles de Gaulle and two-dozen other airports around France were being shut down over security concerns about ash from Iceland's spewing volcano. While Eurostar trains, that links France to Britain, across the English Channel weren't affected, the grounding of flights in Paris meant travelers rushed to book trains to London, and they filled up quickly. Image Credit: AP

Paris: The travel troubles started in France even before the ash fallout, thanks to national rail strikes.

These especially affected the south-east were nearly 12,000 people from around the world were gathered in Cannes for the MIPTV entertainment content market.

From mid-week many of those who had picked getting the train to Paris as their first port of call had to switch to planes out of Nice.

Then they found out as of late Thursday that Paris was "shut" for all flights.

Those heading to the Middle East generally escaped the problem as they could get flights out of Nice.

This writer was one of the lucky ones aiming to head north. I held on to my ticket to Paris despite much conflicting information on the fate of my train. A hurried trip to Cannes station on Thursday eased my concern when I was told my trip was OK.

Meanwhile on Thursday MIPTV delegates heading to London and Paris - many with connecting flight from there to the US, Asia and Australia – scrambled to find ways out.

But French rail had stopped selling tickets in the south-east for Paris connections as it had cut services to keep as many trains running as possible.

People were looking to hire cars and head for the likes of Calais and catch a ferry.

The Eurostar services from Paris to London might have been an option but these were rapidly filling up with people already in Paris trying to leave. (And Paris hotels are said to be packed.)

Even those who were going to make it to London knew it was as far as they could go for now.

Cannes station on Friday was full of delegates trying to get on a train but being told they could not buy a ticket.

Clearly some people took a gamble and got on board the Paris express without an advance ticket as the train was packed with people in the aisles and walkways. I also saw several people pay on board without protest from the ticket collectors.

I arrived in Paris to find that already one meeting was cancelled. I made it; they didn’t.

My next challenge is getting back to Dubai on Monday – and hoping the air and the airlines are clear by then.