More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday 23 March 2023 sparked by legislation pushed through without a parliamentary vote earlier in the week raising the retirement age by two years to 64.
In Bordeaux the town hall opened in 1778, a decade before the French Revolution was set on fire.
On Tuesday tram drivers announced that they would be refusing to take King Charles III on a tour through Bordeaux during his state visit accompanied by the Queen which begins on Sunday.
In Paris police fired tear gas at protesters. Strikes led to disrupted train travel, oil refineries and saw teachers and workers at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport walk out of work.
In city Ville d’Angers in western France, about 300 km southwest of Paris videos posted by Alertes Infos show violent clashes with police.
A lavish banquet at the Palace of Versailles billed as the “highlight” of King Charles’s state visit to France is cancelled because of fears over security.
Unions have announced fresh strikes and protests for next Tuesday, the second full day of his visit.