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Protest Route for March in Paris Sat Feb 11 - it may be BIG

Please note that tomorrow's protest route in Paris will be:
Depart from Place de la République at 11h
go via blvd Voltaire
Arrive at Place de la Nation at 19h

this is likely to be a well-subscribed march, so it may NOT be the day to visit République, Bastille, Père Lachaise, etc.

Surface transportation such as buses will definitely be affected -- lines cancelled or shortened -- and taxis as well.

Often the police authorities also close down metro stops right near the marches, so check CityMapper and/or https://www.ratp.fr/infos-trafic and/or the Twitter feed of the metro line you plan on taking if you're somewhere near the protest route to see if your metro stop will be affected.

This is far from the Louvre, the Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe etc, so shouldn't create a problem for most visitors unless you had a lunch reservation somewhere along the blvd Voltaire!

Edited to note: Some press is reporting that estimates of participation in the Paris march tomorrow range from 90,000 to 120,000 people.

Posted by
10601 posts

Kim, thanks for sharing. I wish I was going to be in Paris so I could avoid the protest. ;-)

Posted by
10623 posts

Meanwhile down south, we have the retirement march, but also separately, we have 10,000 protestors with 500 horses marching and clip-clopping through town in defense of the traditional bull farms. Both demonstrations will go right through my neighborhood. Watch your step, bring a shovel.

Posted by
10193 posts

The protesters are on the lower part of blvd Voltaire heading towards Nation. Unfortunately they are also burning a couple of cars…

Posted by
33821 posts

That's heading your way, Kim... the two of you stay safe

Posted by
10193 posts

Thank you Nigel. I specifically made sure to do my errands early today so I would not be out and about in the area of the protest - their ending spot today was where I do my weekly Saturday grocery shop! Haha

Posted by
824 posts

What did the numbers eventually turn out to be? I get the sense that down here the combination of the Rugby and people realising the reforms will work in their favour is reducing turn out.

Posted by
10193 posts

They're saying 963,000 people turned out across the country. Of that, 93,000 in Paris.