Nantes: two bridges and a blocked city centre

The defining standoff of a day of french protests came where the Loire splits Nantes from its barred centre. A procession of several thousands set off from the Île de Nantes, and when marchers tried to cross the river into the city centre - where gatherings were banned - police sealed a bridge with a water cannon and tear gas.

The blockade did not hold. Demonstrators crossed by a second bridge, and officers pushed back the front of the march with stun grenades, tear gas and a physical charge. Even so, the procession reached the city centre shortly before 4pm.

Teargas, water cannon and the Toulouse injury

Tear gas was fired at protesters in several cities, including Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and Nantes, according to AFP journalists. Clashes broke out in Paris, Lyon, Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, Nice and Marseille after attempts to enter unauthorised areas.

In the capital, some protesters threw projectiles near the endpoint of the march at Porte de Vincennes; police answered with volleys of tear gas and water cannons. At the end of the march, police said more than 500 rioters were attacking law enforcement and had attempted to break into a car dealership at Porte de Vincennes.

Lyon saw nearly 10,000 people march without pre-authorisation and despite a ban on gatherings in the city centre, according to the Rhone prefecture as of 4.30pm. The prefecture said demonstrators moved "in a very erratic manner, without any clearly defined objective"; police used mobile tactics and at times tear gas to disperse groups. Armoured Centaure vehicles were deployed, with officers seeking to keep marches away from the Presqu'île shopping district, where shops were looted and the tourist office set on fire on October 17.

Elsewhere:

• •In Toulouse, prefectural authorities told AFP that one demonstrator suffered a serious hand injury during clashes as the demonstration dispersed from the Les Arènes district.
• •An anonymous medic who treated the person said there was a severe injury to the right hand, with several fingers torn off, allegedly caused by the explosion of a nearby device.
• •The National Gendarmerie reported protesters aiming fireworks at law enforcement in Dijon.

The Toulouse crowd itself was disputed: local authorities counted 26,000–26,500 participants, while the CGT trade union put the figure at 80,000.

Turnout: ministry versus organisers

The protest turnout in France was contested as usual. The Interior Ministry estimated at least 410,000 people rallied across the country against the high cost of living, including 110,000 in Paris. Organisers claimed nearly 800,000 nationwide, with 250,000 in the capital.

Either count came in below the previous Saturday, when 550,000 people took to the streets. The rallies centred on purchasing power and the defence of public services, called by the Yellow Vests movement and joined by students and unions; the school protests that started the wave began more than a month earlier over conditions, teacher shortages and inequalities.

Arrests and ministerial warnings

Paris police said more than 3,000 people were stopped and checked and 65 arrested during the capital's demonstration, describing the situation as calm at midday.

Nationwide, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police arrested 135 people and seized weapons including metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, improvised weapons, a katana and airsoft weapons. He said there had so far been no major incident.

The minister had warned before the marches: "We will not tolerate any violence or any disturbance of public order."

By the end of the day, the Interior Ministry's nationwide tally stood at at least 410,000 demonstrators, while Nunez said there had so far been no major incident.