Continued protests in France

In Paris, the high school student protest will take place at Place de la République starting at 2:00 PM.

Otherwise, the vast majority of people in France who don't have children in high school would have no idea that there are protests if they didn't watch the news. So there is no need to overdramatize what is a rather common occurrence in France

I wouldn’t consider it over-dramatizing to post information that I received by mail from the US Department of State. It’s probably true that it won’t affect any travelers, but it’s always good to be aware of the situation, don’t you think? 😏

When I was in high school in Europe we had protests every month, sometimes every week, for one reason or another. We had marches, we were waving our red communist flags while chanting songs by the Inti Illimani (El Pueblo Unido Jamas Serà Vencido), throwing cobblestones to the police.
We had a lot of fun in our youth.
Young generations of Europeans are doing the same.
American high schoolers don’t know what they are missing.

Thank you for posting Mardee. These current high school student protests are different than the typical protests. The protests are making national news here in the US. There are reports of people hospitalized.

ftr, the US Dept of State sends out emails too frequently...

Roberto, I protested in my youth and I’m still protesting now. 😊 But if it’s a protest that I’m not involved with, I don’t know that I’d necessarily want to be in the thick of it and would probably avoid that area just to make things easier, especially if I were traveling.

Everybody has fun till someone loses a hand:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/05/schoolboy-loses-hand-police-stun-grenade-french-school-protests

[snip]
In one incident, a 15-year-old protesting against what demonstrators said were France’s dilapidated ⁠and understaffed ​schools ‌had his hand ‌blown off outside a high school in the northern town of Lens

The article mentions another student losing sight in one eye.

throwing cobblestones to the police. We had a lot of fun in our youth.
Young generations of Europeans are doing the same. American high schoolers don’t know what they are missing.

As a former police officer who has experience of dealing with mass public disorder I can assure you that it's anything but fun. You might find the prospect of launching cobblestones at police officers with the sole intention of causing harm as humorous but as a recipient of the violence it is anything but.

Footage of one protester using a makeshift flame thrower against an innocent woman waiting at a bus stop is horrific and not something that could ever be considered a bit of fun.

There's a world of difference between peaceful protesting and violent rioting. Let's acknowledge the difference and condemn it when appropriate.

Robert, that is quite scary and very serious. I had no idea that it escalated like that. It sounds like the students have some very valid complaints.

JC, I agree that protests are not fun when there is violence involved. I guess I was thinking of the recent one in Minneapolis that I went to back in the spring. I hope there’s a way to resolve these differences peacefully.

a 15-year-old protesting against what demonstrators said were France’s dilapidated ⁠and understaffed ​schools ‌had his hand ‌blown off outside a high school

note that he picked up a stun grenade before it had exploded

There are no violent “riots” going on. There are demonstrations involving high school students with a few people, most of whom are not students, who are looking to confront the police. They use the opportunity to set trash cans on fire, damage bus shelters, and do things like that.

There are blockades and demonstrations at more than 600 high schools across France, but only a handful have experienced this kind of violence. This has been happening for years, regardless of what the demonstrations are about, and there are always people injured, both among the protesters and the police. It was the same back when I was a student a long time ago, we used to get chased and beaten with batons by the police, while we threw paving stones at them.

So far, virtually no tourists in Paris have noticed anything like what is being reported in the media. In Paris, tomorrow’s demonstration will take place along a single avenue. 300 meters away, it’s business as usual. And Paris has more than 6,000 streets and avenues.

Whether you’re in Paris or another city, you simply need to follow the instructions from STEP: “Avoid areas around protests and demonstrations.”

First, let me thank Mardee for sharing info she received as it's always good to be informed. Second, JoLui's point should be well taken by all of us. If you do not have a high schooler, you are bound to not notice, nor be affected by it.

It is important to note that what we are seeing in the US/UK news is a teeny, tiny snippet of what's actually happening and, as it often is in US/UK news, the situation is taken a bit out of context. Friends who work in the French school system are a bit surprised by what's being shown in the English speaking world as that is not what they are seeing in their part(s) of France. Protests-yes! School closures-yes! Mass mahem and violence-No!

I do think Mardee's end point about "alternative routes and extra travel time" is good advice for this situation as well as any protests that are happening in France.

One more thing:
KD, your comment is the BEST! And so true!! It made me laugh out loud!

I avoid our local Trader Joe's when the nearby high school lets out for the day, so I subscribe to it's just always better to avoid groups of high schoolers even though they are/may be good kids in general!

I know, Kimberly. I laughed so hard when I read that! That's one of the reasons I don't sub at high schools—teenagers in abundance can be difficult to deal with. 😊

I also agree that STEP sends too many warnings. We get all these panicked posts about canceling September trips because there are fires in July, and fear of visiting a place because a river overflows its banks for a few days. It’s bad enough with some of the news sources people use talking about no-go zones. What would government warnings about US cities look like, I wonder.

I'd like to point out that it is just as dangerous to venture into the Dordogne.

What STEP doesn't tell you:

Last Saturday, in the Dordogne, a farmer had all the toes on one foot cut off by the shredder of his agricultural machine.

The same evening, the Eden Club, a nightclub near Brantôme, started catching fire. People were evacuated.

The same week, there were several serious and fatal road accidents

41 students from a school in Les Eyzies suffered from food poisoning, and three were hospitalized.

Near my place, a restaurant was hit with an emergency closure order for failing to comply with hygiene standards, I had never been there myself and would never have recommended it, even though it was very popular and fairly well-rated.

I view STEP notices as useful information to help travelers make informed decisions. Receiving one doesn’t make me fearful about a trip, but it can help me decide whether to avoid a particular area or take a different route.

I’ve received numerous notices over the years while traveling in countries including Switzerland, England and Spain. I’ve found them helpful for planning around demonstrations or crowds I’d prefer to avoid.

It's a given that Place de la Republique is the gathering point for demonstrations to take place....stands to reason. Bravo.

I always miss these events. It would be very interesting to observe these events, On French TV I have seen coverage on demonstrations and the violence, acute violence ensued., ie battle of the streets in various cities.

I don't get STEP info, not interested in that.

Just a small point of view....
I live here in Paris and the only place I have seen any of this is on the news. I'm not one to stay at home either...

Mardee, thanks for the thread.