Respite in Paris as yellow vest movement abates

One reason why the heat has been taken out of the protests relates to the concessions from French President Emmanuel Macron.

The yellow vest protests, which have brought particular chaos to Paris over the past few weeks, clearly abated Saturday, as the Christmas holiday season began in earnest. The number of protesters demonstrating on Paris’ Champs Elysees is down sharply on recent week as an appeal for a sixth straight Saturday of protests across France appeared to fall on deaf ears.

In a stark contrast to the chaos of previous weekends, tourists strolled down the avenue near the Arc de Triomphe and perhaps the grandest of Parisian boulevards remained open for traffic.

A few hundred protesters cordoned by police forces did walk across Paris toward the Madeleine Church near the Elysee Palace but were stopped by police in a small adjacent street as some shop owners closed down early. Despite the more benign backdrop, the protests are still having a knock-on effect.

The palace of Versailles just outside Paris, for example, has been shut for the day after yellow vest protesters said they will hold a demonstration at the famous chateau that was home to succession of French kings until the French Revolution in 1789.