France Readies 70,000 Officers as Marches Are Rerouted and Cities Shut Doors

French police prepared to flood the streets with up to 70,000 officers on Saturday as authorities rerouted the Paris march and shuttered major museums, setting up a confrontation between a government intent on protecting storefronts and unions that call the protest bans unlawful. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the deployment would include helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons. In central Paris, a few dozen gendarmes were stationed beneath the Arc de Triomphe and along nearby avenues.

The Paris route changed on Friday. The procession now runs along the capital's southeastern edge between Porte d'Italie and Porte de Vincennes, replacing the planned path from Bastille to Nation. Last weekend's demonstrations drew more than half a million people, and organizers expect another large crowd.

The movement began in September around staff shortages at one high school southeast of Paris. Students now seek more teachers, upgraded buildings and additional university places, while unions press for higher wages and pensions to offset household costs. A 10-point plan from student groups asks for 250,000 extra higher education slots, an end to Parcoursup selection, a 200 euro monthly increase in student grants and a rent freeze in public student housing.

Cultural institutions and retailers are absorbing the cost. The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais, host of the Cézanne exhibit, are closed Saturday. Art Basel opened Friday for one day, then organizers dropped the weekend program over unrest risk. Shopkeepers spent the week boarding windows; contractor Akram Ahmed, 34, was covering an optician's shop near Saint-Lazare station. "I got the call last night," Ahmed said. Some 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted last weekend.

Local authorities banned marches in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, while Paris and Marseille rallies remain on the calendar. Unions say the bans curtail freedom of expression, a right the constitution protects. French media reported police used tear gas in Lyon on Saturday morning. Outside the capital, two suspects in the fire that nearly destroyed Limoges' 19th-century city hall were placed under formal investigation and held pending trial; the probe includes attempted murder of a public official.

President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, is handling the crisis near the close of his term with his popularity at its lowest since 2017. He has said the measures are needed to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings. In Orléans, about 110 kilometres south of Paris, thousands attended an anti-far-right protest held alongside a two-day congress of Marine Le Pen's party, ahead of next spring's presidential election. Victoria Ambrosini, an art critic and art teacher at Saint-Denis University, said money is now "concentrated in the hands of very few people," adding, "it's not possible anymore."

Paris police prefect Patrice Faure urged shopkeepers to hire security guards, then clarified that protecting businesses falls to the government.