Paris shuts Louvre and other museums as police deploy in big numbers for new protests across France

PARIS — More than 100,000 people marched in Paris on Saturday over school funding and soaring living costs, challenging President Emmanuel Macron’s government as police fired tear gas and water cannons near the end of the protest.

Paris police estimated turnout at 110,000, with demonstrators mobilizing despite restrictions that confined the march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the center.

Police used tear gas in several cities, including Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, and Strasbourg, and water cannons in Nice and Nantes, French media reported. In Marseille, officers fired tear gas during clashes with several dozen people near the march’s endpoint.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said 64 people had been arrested in connection with Saturday’s demonstration and 40 placed in police custody. Those arrested included six minors. Most arrests concerned suspected weapons offenses or participation in a group preparing violence or property damage, the office said.

The unrest is testing Macron’s authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May. The stakes are high: the far-right National Rally has accused his government of failing to protect the public and urged people to channel their anger into votes for them.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had announced a nationwide deployment of up to 70,000 officers, backed by helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons.

Authorities had confined the Paris march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the center. An Associated Press journalist saw tens of thousands of people marching from Porte d’Italie early in the afternoon. Trade unions led the procession, followed by protesters in raincoats carrying flags and handmade placards.

After reaching the authorized endpoint at Porte de Vincennes, some demonstrators tried to continue toward Place de la Nation, but police blocked their path, French media reported.

Camille Chesnier, 27, said she had been unable to find work despite having an engineering degree and a master’s degree.

“There are enormous numbers of people in the same situation as me but who aren’t privileged and who find themselves living on the streets and in squats and, frankly, it’s very tough,” she said.

A small protest became a national movement

What began last month as a protest over staff shortages at one high school southeast of Paris has grown into a national movement. Students demanding better schools and workers seeking higher wages and pensions have brought anger over living standards into the final months of President Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.

Energy prices in France were 21.3% higher in September than a year earlier, helping drive overall inflation to 3.1%, according to the national statistics agency, INSEE.

Macron met high school representatives Friday. They said he had promised to overhaul university admissions, but called for protests to continue until concrete measures are announced.

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Some protests have been banned

Police changed the Paris route Friday. At Bastille, the original starting point, police used a megaphone to tell people to leave or face a 135-euro ($150) fine.