Bonjour. Yes, it is us again. Yes, it is on fire again.
On Friday 17 October, France did what France does best after cheese, wine and complaining about cheese and wine: it went into the street. The government counted 550,000 people. The organisers counted 800,000. In France this is normal — every protest happens in two parallel universes, and both universes are furious.
For our international friends watching on TV with a little smile: it did not start with a baguette. It started in mid-September in a high school in Créteil, with students saying the buildings are falling apart, the classes are overcrowded and there are not enough teachers. Very reasonable. Very adult. Then the adults arrived and, naturally, ruined everything.
How a French protest grows (a scientific diagram)
- 1. Teenagers — “Our school is falling down.”
- 2. Unions — “And also the salaries.”
- 3. Pensioners — “And also the pensions.”
- 4. Everybody — “And also the prices, the taxes, the debt, the public services, the future, the weather, and Gérard from the boulangerie who closes at 13h.”
- 5. The yellow vests — taking them out of the wardrobe like a Christmas jumper: “We are back, darling.”
By Friday, the statue of Marianne at Place de la République was wearing a yellow vest. She did not ask for it. Nobody ever asks Marianne anything. This is the problem.
“Bastille on fire” — a small correction
Foreign journalists love to say Bastille. It sounds revolutionary. It sounds like 1789. Unfortunately, the Bastille was demolished in 1789 — by us, because we were angry. So in 2026 we had to protest somewhere else, mainly around République, where cobblestones came out of the ground (they are very motivated, our cobblestones), cars and a newspaper kiosk burned, and several shop windows discovered the concept of liberté.
It was not only Paris. Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Toulouse, Angers — everybody wanted their little piece of the revolution.
The official reactions, in order of predictability
- The President from Brussels, called for calm. Then he convened an emergency meeting and announced he would speak to the nation on Sunday at 20h — the sacred hour when France sits down to dinner and pretends to listen.
- The Interior Minister said the right to protest is fundamental, and the violence is the fault of the “ultra-left”.
- The far right said the rioters spoiled a protest about purchasing power — and, with elections next year, kindly offered to restore order.
- The radical left said the Prime Minister was “playing with fire”. Which, on Friday evening, was technically true for several people.
- Across the Atlantic someone posted “France is burning!” — the first time an American has been interested in a French city other than Paris.
Everybody is right. Everybody is outraged. Nobody is responsible. C’est la France.
Le mot du Président · Sunday, 20h
What he said
Speaking at 20h, 24 hours after the riots, the President blamed “factious” ultra-left groups, joined by “many delinquents”. Nothing, he said, justifies, explains or excuses it.
Those who destroyed must pay, those who looted must reimburse, and those who wanted to bring down the Republic will answer for it. Quick investigations, exemplary justice.
He asked the Interior Minister for clear answers on intelligence failures. Prefects, with mayors, may ban some gatherings.
On prices: fuel is expensive because of the conflict in the Persian Gulf. He flies to the Gulf on Monday to secure fuel and gas.
To students: he hears a “deep anxiety”. The Education Ministry’s online platform has received more than 100,000 contributions.
Six months before the presidential election: unity, calm, respect. Debate in public meetings — not in the street.
What France heard
It is not my fault. It is the ultra-left. And the delinquents. And possibly the weather.
Pay back what you broke. First time in history a French president asks somebody else to reimburse. A great day for the national debt.
We will organise a meeting. To understand why nobody saw the meeting coming.
Petrol is expensive? Don’t worry. I will personally go and get some.
Dear teenagers: 100,000 of you filled in the form. Congratulations — you are now officially French administration.
Please riot in the ballot box in April. It is cleaner, and the cobblestones stay where they are.
So, are the French completely dépassés?
Let’s be honest: yes. A little bit. Okay, a lot.
We have the highest borrowing costs in twenty years, a budget nobody can pass, schools that leak, prices that climb, and a political class that changes Prime Ministers like we change fromagers — often, with drama, and with the feeling that the next one will be the same but more expensive.
Renaud wrote a whole song about us in 1975 — Hexagone, a little portrait of the French and their national obsessions. Fifty years later, we are still the chorus.
And the French answer to being dépassés is not to sit down and make a spreadsheet. It is to go outside, all together, and shout. It is chaotic, it is exhausting, it is sometimes ugly — and it is also the oldest French tradition after the apéro: refusing to be told everything is fine when everything is not fine.
The rest of the world thinks we are crazy. Maybe. But notice that the rest of the world is still watching.
Vive la France. Forever dépassés, never defeated.