The "yellow vests" organized a back-to-school demonstration on Saturday in Paris and in several provincial towns.

In the capital, the protesters were less numerous than expected, while clashes have punctuated this dreaded mobilization by exhausted traders.

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After long months of hiatus, the "yellow vests" were back on Saturday.

They took to the streets of Paris, but also of Bordeaux, Marseille, Toulouse and Nantes, in order to protest in particular against the economic and social policy of the government.

But for this return, the protesters have not really managed to refuel.

Unlike the provincial demonstrations, the meager Parisian processions were peppered with clashes.

Barricades and tear gas

In total, between 2,000 and 3,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Paris.

We saw the leading figures of the movement, like Jérôme Rodrigues, congratulated by the demonstrators throughout the procession.

Saturday morning, the comedian Jean-Marie Bigard, who supported the movement but who disassociated himself this week from Jérôme Rodrigues, had to take refuge in a cafe, then was exfiltrated after being copiously insulted and threatened by "yellow vests".

At the microphone Europe 1 of Wendy Bouchard, the comedian returned to this episode, claiming to have been "afraid".

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The procession started at the beginning of the afternoon and immediately, clashes opposed the demonstrators to the police.

Garbage cans, street furniture and a car were burnt.

While the prefect had banned demonstrations on the Champs-Élysées, clashes broke out all along the route.

The demonstrators erected barricades with construction barriers.

CRS and mobile gendarmes fired tear gas canisters on several occasions to disperse the crowd.

In all, the police arrested 256 people and 134 of them were placed in the afternoon this afternoon.

The main procession dispersed at the end of the afternoon, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.

The pessimistic demonstrators, the traders too

Despite the clashes, the demonstrators were able to proclaim their demands, which relate mainly to purchasing power.

"I have always had the same conviction", says Virginie, demonstrator since the beginning of the movement.

"I want to work, sure, but I want to be paid and be able to pay my bills until the end, feed myself until the end, be able to eat a little restaurant and take a little vacation every now and then. we want. There, on the other hand, we are made to work like little Chinese. It's getting worse and worse. Me, that's always why I came. " 

Parisian traders, for their part, told Europe 1 of their fatigue after repeated demonstrations, with a context of health crisis for six months.

"The 'yellow vests' have problems," said Régine, manager of a clothing store, "but do you think that the owners of SMEs, like here, have no worries either? Last year, they were there during all the holidays and they are starting again at the start of the school year in September. This is not how we are going to go back up France a bit. "