Cities throughout France are facing a wave of protests that kicked off in late September. Originally led by high school students decrying the poor conditions in public education, the protests have since evolved into demonstrations against the cost of living. Here’s how these protests in France are affecting travelers, where to go in Paris that’s far from demonstrators, and when the next protests are expected.
Why are people protesting in France?
In late September, high school students in the Paris suburb of Créteil began protesting peacefully against teacher absences, overcrowded classrooms, and crumbling infrastructure. This student-led movement has evolved into nearly a month of protests that have swept France, culminating in 1,750 demonstrations country-wide on Saturday, October 17, according to French newspaper Le Monde, with some 800,000 people taking to the streets and calling for more funding for public schools and services.
Protesting is intrinsic to French culture; it was protests that ushered in the French Revolution, abolishing the monarchy. In May 1968, a student-led revolt ended with a strike of some 10 million workers. Participants in the current protests include the yellow vests (gilets jaunes), members of a grassroots movement who held weekly protests for 19 months between 2018 and 2020 over rising fuel and economic inequality.
I live in Paris, and a man in his early 60s at the post office last week told me that he has been protesting for 40-plus years so that his rights will not be eroded. Léo (who didn’t provide a last name), a 21-year-old geography major protesting in France’s second-largest city, Marseille, on Saturday said, “We fight every day to keep our public services running and to secure our right to health care and education, and above all so that everyone has the same access to all of it.”
Where are the protests in Paris?
The enormous protest in Paris this past Saturday, October 17, was on the Right Bank (north of the Seine), going from Place de la République west and north to Place de Clichy. République and Bastille are common gathering areas for protesters. As of 6 p.m. local time on October 20, a curfew is in place from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. only on the Place de la République and the rectangle of Les Halles. The latest curfew was announced at the last minute, and it is unclear whether additional curfews will be implemented.
What areas of Paris remain safe for travelers?
As of press time, the protests in Paris have been on the Right Bank only. That being said, many Right Bank neighborhoods were unaffected, including the 12th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements to the east and parts of the 1st, 8th, and 9th, Montmartre in the 18th, and the 17th to the west. It was business as usual on Ile de la Cité, Ile Saint-Louis, and all neighborhoods on the Left Bank (arrondissements 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, and 15). Walking through the Jardin du Luxembourg on Saturday, October 17, a beautiful and warm fall day, I was struck by how far removed the scene there felt from the protests scarcely two miles north.
Tour guide Lily Heise has lived in Paris for more than two decades. She was in Montmartre Saturday during the large protest and said, “It was perfectly fine. The area was busy with tourists and Parisians, but there was no violence or trouble at all.”
Are there protests taking place in other cities in Europe?
The protests in Paris have sparked a wave of demonstrations in France that began as a student-led movement but have since attracted hundreds of thousands protesting a high cost of living in France and beyond. In Spain and Portugal, residents are protesting against a lack of affordable housing and the high cost of living, as are those in Milan, where a peaceful protest turned violent Saturday.
When are the next protests?
The dates of the next student-led protests in France have not yet been announced, but as of 6 p.m. French time on October 20, the yellow-vest movement has threatened what it’s calling act two on Saturday, October 24, and Saturday, October 31, but details are scant. The largest upcoming strike in France is expected to be on Thursday, November 5, and will include the state-owned railway SNCF. This strike is unrelated to the current protests, but strikes have evolved into protests in the past, so it’s something to be aware of.
In Spain and Portugal, an Iberian-wide strike has been called by unions for November 11. A major union in Italy has called for a general strike on November 20, reports DW News in Germany.
Is public transportation affected, including trains and subways?
During the huge strike in France on Saturday, October 17, trains—such as those run by SNCF (the French state railway company), Trenitalia, and Eurostar—were not affected.
In Paris, however, the metro and the buses on the Right Bank were severely affected. On Saturday, more than 25 metro stations were closed, including those far from the protest route, such as Tuileries and Charles de Gaulle–Étoile at the Arc de Triomphe. And the municipal police have closed metro stations République and Châtelet–Les Halles between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. until Thursday, October 22.
If there are continued protests by the yellow vests the next two Saturdays, the metro stations at République and Bastille, the main protest gathering places, may be closed, as they were Saturday.
You can check the traffic page of RATP, the metro and bus operator, for notices of metro closures, and the RATP app is very useful for staying on top of bus route deviations.
Are cabs and driving in the city affected?
Cabs and rideshare cars will not be able to cross protest routes. This can prove tricky for people who need to go to the airport or train station with heavy luggage. But if you can walk a few blocks, you’ll be able to get a cab driving away from the protest route. Be sure to add a bit of extra time for getting to the airport.
Should I cancel my trip?
Whether or not to cancel travel is a personal decision. That being said, strike schedules are released in advance, so those with existing plans to travel to Paris can reroute around any pockets of demonstrations or social unrest. Popular tourist destinations such as the Louvre (barring a short demonstration blockade on Monday morning), Notre-Dame, Eiffel Tower, and Sacré-Cœur remain unaffected.
Heise told me, “I don’t think travelers should cancel their trips to Paris because the violence and unrest have mostly been confined to specific areas, namely around Place de la République, Bastille, Les Halles, and the Champs-Élysées. I recommend doing a quick search to see where an official protest march is taking place and steer clear of those areas. Saint-Germain, the Latin Quarter, and Montmartre are usually peaceful and good places to visit on protest days.”
She also recommends “using the occasion to visit one of the city’s lovely smaller museums, like the Musée Rodin, the Musée de Cluny (the National Medieval Museum), or the Musée Marmottan Monet (home to the largest collection of Monet paintings in the world), which are all in generally safe areas.”
If you’ve booked a hotel right at République or Bastille and you find out that a protest is coming, you can consider moving to a neighborhood on the Left Bank or the 12th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements, which are generally unaffected.
Bear in mind that if you do want to cancel your trip, your travel insurance may not cover cancellation due to concern over protests. Catherine Dibouès, travel marketing manager at travel insurance provider Allianz Partners France, told Afar that “coverage for events related to protests or civil unrest depends on the policy you have purchased.”
She added that “a key principle of travel insurance is that events already known at the time of purchase are generally not covered,” meaning that if protest information becomes available and then you decide to cancel, you might be out of luck.
Where can I get information on strikes and protests in France?
The ParisTravelGuide Reddit thread has a solid overview of the current protest situation in Paris and what travelers can expect. And of course French newspapers like Le Monde have been monitoring and reporting on the ongoing protests as well as on potential worker strikes.
