Yellow vest protest: Which parts of Paris should you avoid on Saturday?
The Local France - [email protected]
Published: 7 Dec, 2018 CET.
Updated: Fri 7 Dec 2018 14:05 CET
As Paris authorities prepare for round four of the "yellow vest" protests set to take place in the French capital on Saturday, there are some places you should probably avoid if you're in the city.
Police authorities are preparing to deploy around 8,000 officers in Paris on Saturday in an attempt to prevent a repeat of last weekend's 'unprecedented violence' on the streets of the French capital.
And readers have been asking us if we can point out the places to avoid in Paris tomorrow.
This is not easy because as we saw last week the protest was meant to take place on the Champs Elysées but quickly descended into mayhem in the streets round the Arc de Triomphe, before spreading in the evening throughout the 8th arrondissement.
In the end only a section of the city was affected but the point is that is last week is anything to go by the its hard to predict what will happen. We've seen in previous demos that when a violent fringe has turned up they have ended up in cat and mouse chases with the police.
READ ALSO:
-
LIVE UPDATES: France in crisis as country braces for more violence
-
UPDATED: France to deploy 89,000 police officers to maintain order on Saturday
Photo: AFP
For example during the 2016 demos against labour law reforms anarchist and left-wing extremist groups break off from the main crowd and carry out destruction away from the watching police but in front of bemused members of the public. By the time the police were on the scene the damage was done and the rioters had moved off.
Nevertheless there are some areas to avoid on Saturday, not least the Champs-Elysees and the wide surrounding area, stretching towards the department stores on the Boulevard Haussmann.
The area around Opera and Place de la Concorde should also probably be avoided, given there was widespread rioting there last weekend.
A gilets jaunes march is also scheduled to take place between Bastille and Republique in the east of the city.
A total of 14 areas will be under tight police surveillance, such as Place de l'Etoile at the Arc de Triomphe, Concorde, Place Vendome, Opera, Montparnasse and Place d'Italie.
It's important to note that many other areas on the Right Bank may also feel like ghost towns given shop owners are likely to take the decision to close.
Here's a map from BFM TV which highlights the areas, according to them, that you might want to avoid.
Photo: BFM TV
"We will try to intervene on the various locations where the clashes happen to challenge the leaders and rioters as soon as possible to ensure that this type of gathering is quelled," Denis Jacob of the Alternative Police union.
You can stay up to date with the latest on the 'yellow vest' protests on our live blog.
Comments
See Also
Police authorities are preparing to deploy around 8,000 officers in Paris on Saturday in an attempt to prevent a repeat of last weekend's 'unprecedented violence' on the streets of the French capital.
And readers have been asking us if we can point out the places to avoid in Paris tomorrow.
This is not easy because as we saw last week the protest was meant to take place on the Champs Elysées but quickly descended into mayhem in the streets round the Arc de Triomphe, before spreading in the evening throughout the 8th arrondissement.
In the end only a section of the city was affected but the point is that is last week is anything to go by the its hard to predict what will happen. We've seen in previous demos that when a violent fringe has turned up they have ended up in cat and mouse chases with the police.
READ ALSO:
- LIVE UPDATES: France in crisis as country braces for more violence
- UPDATED: France to deploy 89,000 police officers to maintain order on Saturday
Photo: AFP
For example during the 2016 demos against labour law reforms anarchist and left-wing extremist groups break off from the main crowd and carry out destruction away from the watching police but in front of bemused members of the public. By the time the police were on the scene the damage was done and the rioters had moved off.
Nevertheless there are some areas to avoid on Saturday, not least the Champs-Elysees and the wide surrounding area, stretching towards the department stores on the Boulevard Haussmann.
The area around Opera and Place de la Concorde should also probably be avoided, given there was widespread rioting there last weekend.
A gilets jaunes march is also scheduled to take place between Bastille and Republique in the east of the city.
A total of 14 areas will be under tight police surveillance, such as Place de l'Etoile at the Arc de Triomphe, Concorde, Place Vendome, Opera, Montparnasse and Place d'Italie.
It's important to note that many other areas on the Right Bank may also feel like ghost towns given shop owners are likely to take the decision to close.
Here's a map from BFM TV which highlights the areas, according to them, that you might want to avoid.
Photo: BFM TV
"We will try to intervene on the various locations where the clashes happen to challenge the leaders and rioters as soon as possible to ensure that this type of gathering is quelled," Denis Jacob of the Alternative Police union.
You can stay up to date with the latest on the 'yellow vest' protests on our live blog.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.