Demonstrations took place across France on Saturday, 24 October, with large crowds turning out and most of the day passing peacefully, according to Le Monde.fr. The calm did not hold everywhere: the outlet reported that the closing stages of several marches came under tension, and CNews said clashes broke out in multiple cities, including Nantes, Rennes and Lyon.
In Paris, the prefecture put the capital's procession at 110,000 people, Le Figaro reported, describing the march as peaceful as it moved through the city. Paris Match reported that the first confrontations of the day occurred in Marseille, Lille and Paris after the earlier calm marches.
Crowd figures varied by region. Le Télégramme reported 11,500 participants in Rennes, 5,000 in Brest and 1,200 in Vannes, noting that turnout was lower than at previous demonstrations but that participants were more determined given the weather conditions.
Le Monde.fr quoted one participant calling for the day to be remembered for its scale and calm, saying the crowd had been very large and peaceful and that this should be the takeaway.
The accounts point to a day that was largely orderly until its final stages, when the atmosphere shifted in some cities. With the scale of the Paris turnout confirmed by prefectural figures and reports of friction at the close of several routes, the focus now turns to official tallies and any further statements from authorities on how the day ended.
