The Louvre reopens its doors following wild riots across France
The world’s most visited museum has been forced to close its doors after rioters barricaded the entrance, with shocking images emerging. Find out why France has been rocked by violent unrest
READING LEVEL: RED
Famously known as the City of Light*, the French capital has instead had a dark week in its storied history, in which even the iconic Louvre Museum closed its doors.
As of Wednesday, Australian time, the Louvre’s official site said it had reopened following days of intense rioting that saw shops looted* and buildings damaged.
The museum closed its doors to the public on Tuesday local time, after protesters blocked its entrances, preventing visitors from entering.
Here is a timeline of what went so wrong this past week, as one of the world’s most adored and beloved tourist destinations spiralled into unrest and chaos amid protests that spanned France.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN FOUR WEEKS AGO
The chaos that unfolded in Paris and some parts of France didn’t start with violent rioting.
It began roughly a month ago as localised walkouts by French high school students, known as lycéens.
Organised in part by the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), students reportedly blockaded* schools and staged protests over issues such as broken classroom heating, crumbling infrastructure*, and opposition to proposed changes to the education system.
But what followed was a slow-burn escalation*.
As weeks passed, parents, teachers and trade unionists joined in, and the movement’s focus widened dramatically — from leaking roofs to the cost of living, shrinking purchasing power, and the fraying of France’s famously generous social safety net.
Left-wing political figures, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed (LFI) party, threw their support behind the marches, framing them as a legitimate* stand against an unresponsive government.
WHO WAS BEHIND THE RIOTS?
An important distinction for Australian readers is that the protests and the riots are not the same thing, and largely not run by the same people.
French authorities said that the core protest movement — students, parents, unions and ordinary citizens — has been largely peaceful.
The violence, arson* and looting*, they said, has been driven by opportunistic “ultra-left*” splinter* groups and organised delinquents known in French as casseurs (which literally means “breakers”), who have hijacked otherwise legitimate marches for the chaos and spoils on offer.
It’s a pattern Australians may recognise from our own experience with protests that attract fringe groups seeking confrontation rather than change. Authorities say these groups arrive prepared — masked, organised, and specifically targeting high-value retail and government buildings rather than engaging in genuine political demonstration.
HOW MUCH DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE?
France has suffered through the worst unrest it has seen in decades, with more than 2500 people taken into police custody and almost 3000 shops affected, according to the Federation of Trade and Retail. Clashes have rocked not just the capital but Marseilles, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, Strasbourg and Limoges.
Losses have been estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros and could possibly exceed one billion euros.
The most symbolic act of destruction came in Limoges, where rioters forced their way into the city’s historic 19th-century hôtel de ville (city hall) and deliberately set it alight. The fire gutted the building, causing its roof and bell tower to collapse — an image that has since become symbolic of how far the unrest has spread beyond Paris.
Nearly 1000 officers have been injured nationally in the clashes.
WHAT PROTESTERS ARE ACTUALLY DEMANDING
The demands have evolved considerably since the first school blockades:
Initial demands: Properly funded public schools, repaired infrastructure, and the scrapping of proposed education reforms.
Expanded demands: Action on the rising cost of living, protection of purchasing power, and preservation of France’s social welfare system.
Political demands: Critics, including opposition politicians, accuse President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist* government of being out of touch and relying on police force rather than addressing underlying social discontent*.
Notably, the loudest demands are no longer coming solely from the streets — business federations and local leaders affected by the looting are now demanding emergency state financial support and stronger security guarantees to help recovery.
CURFEWS IN PLACE
French authorities set curfews* in parts of several cities on Monday, including Paris, Lille and Nice following the violence.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu had ruled out a blanket curfew in Paris but not a state of emergency, and had said it was more appropriate for now to apply partial and localised curfews.
Many of the curfews were then extended as the week wore on.
TRAVEL ADVICE FOR AUSTRALIANS
Smartraveller currently advises Australians to “exercise a high degree of caution” when travelling to France.
Practical advice for Australians already in France or planning a trip includes the following:
- Avoid crowds and demonstrations altogether, even if they look peaceful from a distance.
- Don’t treat protests as a tourist spectacle and don’t film them up close, given how quickly situations can escalate.
- Expect transport disruptions. Strikes and blockades regularly affect the Paris Métro, buses, the national SNCF rail network, and flights. Build extra time into any itinerary, particularly around airport transfers.
- Parents should check their travel insurance. Not all standard policies cover civil unrest or related disruption — it’s worth confirming cover before departure, particularly if your family’s trip includes Paris or other major cities currently affected.
- Parents register and monitor. Adults can subscribe to Smartraveller’s updates for France, follow local news and transport apps for real-time information, and keep family or travel companions updated on your location if unrest flares nearby.
- Visitors should follow local authorities’ instructions at all times, and have the European emergency number — 112 — saved and ready.
For Australians already settled in France, the advice is similar: steer clear of flashpoint* areas such as central Paris on demonstration days, keep an eye on union and government notices for planned strike dates, and maintain contact with the Australian Embassy in Paris should the situation deteriorate further.
Minor edits have been made to this story for Kids News. Reuters reporting by Zhifan Liu, Tassilo Hummel, Elizabeth Pineau, Dominique Vidalon, Alessandro Parodi and Makini Brice in Paris, Sudip Kar-Gupta in Brussels, Amanda Cooper, Alun John and Helen Reid in London; Writing by Tassilo Hummel and Charlie Devereux; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Andrew Cawthorne
POLL
GLOSSARY
- City of Light: or la Ville Lumière, Paris was a pioneer of street lighting, installing first candlelit lanterns and then gas lamps before electricity came onto the scene. It is also known as the City of Light because it was a centre of educational and intellectual advances during the Enlightenment (17th and 18th Centuries) and attracted many great thinkers and artists
- looted/looting: stealing property by force, usually during a chaotic event, for example, when a large group of people break shop windows and steal the products inside
- blockaded: when an area, road or entrance is blocked in order to prevent people or traffic from moving freely in or out
- infrastructure: structures and facilities needed for the running of society
- escalation: something becoming more intense
- legitimate: based on a fair and acceptable reason
- arson: the crime of purposefully setting something on fire
- ultra-left: extreme left wing or anti-capitalist politics
- splinter: a small group of people that break from a larger political group to form their own independent organisation
- centrist: sitting in the middle of the left-right political spectrum, emphasising a balance between free-market capitalism and social welfare and avoiding the extremes of both the far right and far left
- social discontent: anger at the way society is being run
- flashpoint: a place where violence or unrest suddenly erupts
EXTRA READING
What is a ‘riot’ and why do they happen?
Could my fridge really get hacked?
Protesters hurl soup at Mona Lisa
QUICK QUIZ
1. Why do rioters sometimes hijack organised protests?
2. What were some of the initial demands of the protesters?
3. What are businesses and local leaders now demanding after the riots?
4. Which French cities were impacted by riots?
5. In what way was the Louvre impacted by protests?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Design a timeline
Design a timeline. Your purpose is to help other kids understand how the riots developed and how the peaceful protests are different to the violent riots.
Time: Spend at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Communication Design, History
2. Extension
‘Violence is never the answer,’ be inspired by this idea to create a poster, artwork or piece of writing.
Time: Spend at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability
VCOP ACTIVITY
Read this!
A headline on an article – or a title on your text – should capture the attention of the audience, telling them to read this now. So choosing the perfect words for a headline or title is very important.
Create three new headlines for the events that took place in this article. Remember, what you write and how you write it will set the pace for the whole text, so make sure it matches.
Read out your headlines to a partner and discuss what the article will be about based on the headline you created. Discuss the tone and mood you set in just your few, short words. Does it do the article justice? Will it capture the audience’s attention the way you hoped? Would you want to read more?
Consider how a headline or title is similar to using short, sharp sentences throughout your text. They can be just as important as complex ones. Go through the last text you wrote and highlight any short, sharp sentences that capture the audience.