Student protesters tell police to join them in Paris demonstrations

Claire, it was the end of the demonstration, and as you were telling us earlier, the drill the last few weeks is things tend to get a little bit violent at the end. How are things? Well, Francois, let me tell you about a nicer moment that we just witnessed. I'm on the edge of the Place Vauban, so not too far from Les Invalides. And just behind me, what you can see are the police officers are no longer wearing their helmets. And what happened about 10 minutes ago is the demonstrators, that group behind me, they were calling to the police. They were chanting, join us, join us. us join us and what the police actually did is they took off their helmets and the and the demonstrators cheered and when the police take off their helmets it's a sign that things are getting calmer and more amiable so we've just witnessed one of the first nice moments in this demonstration at the end of the day on the other side and if we could tilt the camera this way on the Place Vauban we've just been watching as the police order the remaining demonstrators so the hangars on, all of them off the Place Vauban, saying that they can leave through one of three different exits, so one of three the roads leading off the place. They've cordoned off three others, telling the demonstrators that they are taking part in a non-legal gathering and that they need to disperse. So while things behind me are mostly calm now, things closer to Les Invalides are not quite there yet. What are people telling you about what happens next? Well, a lot of people are looking towards Saturday. And what's actually going to happen on Saturday is still a bit ad hoc and not clear. But there will be demonstrations and strikes across France and the yellow vests. Some of them will be taking part. You'll remember that movement that began in 2018 and followed through 2019, which was marked by weekly demonstrations, a lot of them the French capital, a lot of them on the Champs-Élysées, marked by a lot of unrest. On Saturday, we know that there will be strikes going on, cross-sector strikes, and there will be students taking part, and high school students, too. But I have been speaking to a lot of young people, a lot of teenagers today, who told me that they are not going on Saturday. Some will. Some of their friends will. But others tell me that their parents and their families have said to them to stay away from what could be happening on Saturday. So it's not clear exactly what the demonstration will look like, what form it will take. But the Gilets Jaunes, some yellow vest protesters, will be involved. And many high schoolers will be beginning their holidays and looking forward to perhaps a time to reconnect with their families and think about what to do next, what this movement will bring. But expect on Saturday big disruptions here in Paris, particularly in terms of transport.