THE Olympic inspectors yesterday visited planned venues in Paris despite a transport strike and a 150,000-strong demonstration that paralysed large areas of the French capital, much to the embarrassment of the bid officials.

The Evaluation Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was still able to tour the sites, intended for use in 2012, because they were driven round the north and west of a city, other parts of which were gridlocked, in a bus escorted by police outriders. The march took place to the south and east of Paris, well away from the inspectors, who are preparing a report for fellow IOC members before their vote on July 6.

However, the coincidence of the visit with a day of industrial action was a reminder to the IOC of Paris’s reputation for public protest. “We would have preferred a better advertisement for our candidacy,” Jean-François Lamour, the French Sports Minister, said.

Commuter trains and Metro services were both severely disrupted by a strike that started on Wednesday evening. In addition, Calais was blockaded and 50 per cent of planes were cancelled at Orly and 25 per cent at Charles de Gaulle airport. However, the bus service was barely affected.

There were 150 demonstrations elsewhere in the country, as schools, banks and factories, including Renault, Michelin and Coca-Cola, closed down. The workers were demanding pay rises and protesting against government plans to encourage more overtime.

Despite the chaos, the 13 members of the Evaluation Commission were able to see Les Batignolles, the proposed site for the Olympic village, which will replace a railway marshalling yard in northern Paris. They then moved to the Stade de France, the venue of the 1998 World Cup final, which will be the main stadium for the Games.

Although Paris hosted the 2003 World Athletics Championships at the stadium with much success, there were other aspects that have been reported as unsatisfactory to the International Association of Athletics Federations. These included transport, security and sightlines. Because retractable seating is used, the sightlines are a compromise for athletics and field sports. For many spectators, it was difficult to see the long jump and triple jump.

The Commission saw a venue that was still laid out for the France-Wales rugby union match nearly two weeks ago and little of the athletics track was evident, even though track and field is the centrepiece of the Games. Pascal Simonin, the director-general of the Stade de France, said: “We have never had any criticisms of the World Athletics Championships. The Stade de France is a magnificent stadium.”

The inspectors then saw the proposed venues nearby for swimming and gymnastics. However, unlike Athens and Sydney, many of these sites are not in a self-contained area, provoking security concerns. The Commission ended its tour by examining the south-west sites, which include well-tried facilities such as Roland Garros and the Parc des Princes.