Paris October 31 March Route Settled: Prefecture Orders October 30 That Both Columns Take Bagnolet-to-Charenton Eastern Route

The Paris police prefecture published an order on Friday, October 30, settling the route for the October 31 march in Paris: it rejected both city-centre routes that had been filed and required the two columns to converge and proceed together along the eastern edge of the capital, from Porte de Bagnolet (20th arrondissement) to Porte de Charenton (12th). The march is the third Saturday of the mobilisation against the cost of living, billed by organisers as Act III.

The two rejected routes and the imposed eastern route

The rejected routes were the Ile-de-France inter-union coalition's march from Place de la Bastille to Place de la Nation, and the Yellow Vests coordination group's route from Bastille to Concorde via Republique and Opera; both marches had been due to set off at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Under the prefecture's order, the procession will instead follow the Boulevards des Marechaux along the eastern edge, taking Boulevard Davout, Boulevard Soult and Boulevard Poniatowski, passing Porte de Montreuil, Porte de Vincennes and Porte Doree, near the Bois de Vincennes. Police prefect Patrice Faure said the route avoids the city centre and its shopping districts, preventing vandalism while giving demonstrators visibility.

Organisers object; transport impact not yet announced

The Ile-de-France unions said in a statement on October 29 that they condemned the route change and were examining legal action, including an application to the emergency judge to challenge the prefecture's decision; Hervé Gicquel, mayor of Charenton-le-Pont, said the same day he did not want Porte de Charenton to become the march's finishing point. As of the October 30 reporting, no metro station closures for Saturday had been announced — during the previous action on October 24, the prefecture had more than 30 stations closed; travellers should check prefecture and RATP notices on the day. Separately, a new curfew for unaccompanied minors is reported to apply in parts of Paris from October 30 to November 2, days after a previous curfew was suspended by the courts on October 29.