Demonstrators hold up banners and placards, one of which reads as 'someone you deprived of everything is no longer in your power. It is the new entertainment' at a protest in Bayonne on July 31st, 2021. (Photo by GAIZKA IROZ / AFP)
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Protestors are seen through the shattered glass of a bus stop as they march during a demonstration in Paris on July 31st, 2021. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)
Four demonstrations were planned for Paris, one of which left the Villiers metro station late Saturday morning.
Before the procession set off, one member of the populist 'Gilet Jaunes' protest movement berated "the members of the government, the members of the media who are there to sell you the efficacy of vaccines without even having any proof," saying he felt "demonised", Le Monde reported.
A protestor kicks smoking teargas shells during a demonstration in Paris on July 31st, 2021. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)
By mid-afternoon, "over 10,000 people" were taking part, the paper's reporter estimated.
Another demonstration, called by Florian Philipot, the former second-in-command of France's National Front party, set off from near Montparnasse station towards the Ministry of Health.
A demonstrator holds up a placard reading 'No need to learn how to read and write! Plugged in, scanned... dehumanised', during a national day of protest against the compulsory Covid-19 vaccination for certain workers and the compulsory use of the health pass called for by the French government in Paris on July 31, 2021. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)
Several demonstrators -- most of whom were unmasked -- sported red, white and blue flags, while one wore a ripped up European flag, Le Monde reported.
However, the paper said the demonstration was uneventful and some 1,000 to 2,000 people took part.
A protesters with a national flag on his shoulder tries to calm down the situation during clashes on the sidelines of a demonstration in Nantes on July 31st, 2021. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP)
In the South of France, police said 8,500 people protested in Montpellier and 6,500 in Nice, some 500 more than the previous week.
In Marseille, police used tear gas to prevent protesters from getting too close to the police headquarters in the city, an AFP reporter said.
And, in Strasbourg, police said 3,200 people were taking part in protests in the city centre, but reported no problems.
People hold a banner in French, which translates as "No to the health pass and to anti-social reforms" during a demonstration in Caen, Normandy, on July 31st, 2021. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
Protesters also gathered in the La Réunion despite the partial weekend lockdown in place in the French overseas territory, which is facing a rapid increase in Covid-19 cases.
Demonstrators hold up banners and placards, one of which reads as 'Let the Doctors Work, Stop the Dictatorship, Stop the Lies', during a protest in Saint-Denis de la Réunion, on the Indian Ocean island on July 31st, 2021. (Photo by Richard BOUHET / AFP)
According to the results of one
study published on Friday by Harris Interactive and Euros Agency for LCI, four out of 10 French people say they support the protests against the introduction of a health pass.
A demonstrator holds a banner reading "don't touch my kid" during a protest in Reims on July 31st, 2021. (Photo by François NASCIMBENI / AFP)
Of those who support them, 65 percent justified this by opting for the response "not liking what you have to do being forced on you/feeling you don't have the choice".
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