France Today: 8 November 2026

Protests over school conditions and the cost of living dominated the weekend across France, with more action planned for Tuesday. Lyon is collecting food donations, and in Paris you can try a beginner course in French Sign Language.

City news

Lyon’s food bank collection ends today

In Lyon, the Banque Alimentaire du Rhône is taking part in the national food bank collection, which runs from Friday 6 November until today, Sunday 8 November. Residents are asked to give a few food or hygiene products to help people living in hardship. This year’s collection is being held unusually early, so anyone who wants to give still has today.

Source: Lyon Capitale

Trying out a French Sign Language class in Paris

In Paris, franceinfo reporter Ingrid Pohu went to a class in Langue des signes française (LSF, French Sign Language) at the Centre Paris Anim’ Richet. She chose the beginner level, which is open to anyone aged 14 and over, and each lesson lasts an hour and a half. For newcomers, Paris Anim’ centres are one more place to find local classes.

Source: franceinfo Société

Strikes, protests and transport disruption

Students and teachers plan a strike for Tuesday

Student and teacher groups have called a strike for Tuesday to keep up pressure on the government for more education spending. It follows weeks of school closures and protests. Families with school-age children should expect more disruption early in the week.

Source: The Local France

A second protest day in 48 hours

Hundreds of thousands of people were expected on the streets on Saturday, protesting about poor conditions in schools and the rising cost of living. It was the second day of protests within 48 hours, which shows how widely the anger has spread.

Source: RFI

Paris pupils keep up their school blockade

In Paris, students at the Hélène Boucher high school say they will keep protesting, even after riot police were sent to break up their blockade. Pupils and students across France are objecting to poor conditions and to Parcoursup, the national online system for university admissions, which they see as too selective and opaque. They say the government’s recent concessions have not gone far enough.

Source: RFI

Police quickly break up Lyon’s cost-of-living march

In Lyon, police moved fast to disperse the fourth Saturday protest against the cost of living on 7 November, and several groups of marchers kept moving around the city instead. “You can tell they were prepared,” several protesters said. Before the day, the préfecture du Rhône (the State’s local office) had renewed its ban on demonstrations, marches and protest gatherings on public roads across a wide area.

Source: Lyon Capitale

Calm protests in Limoges and Guéret

In Limoges and Guéret, trade unions brought people onto the streets for the fourth Saturday in a row to protest against the cost of living and the lack of resources in public services. Turnout was lower than on 5 November, and both rallies passed off calmly.

Source: France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Cost of living

Pharmacies run short of reimbursed period products

In Limoges, pharmacies are struggling to stock reusable period products, which the Assurance maladie (the French national health insurance) has reimbursed since 1 October. The measure had been expected since 2024, but stock is arriving only slowly and many women have been unable to place an order.

Source: France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine

What it means for foreign residents

• If you have children at school, check with the school about Tuesday’s strike and plan for possible closures (The Local France).
• In Lyon, the préfecture du Rhône has banned protest gatherings on public roads across a wide area, so check before heading into the centre on protest days (Lyon Capitale).
• If you want reimbursed reusable period products, ask your pharmacy whether they are in stock before you go (France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine).
• Students applying to French universities should follow the debate over Parcoursup, the admissions system at the centre of the protests (RFI).

France Today is a curated digest: we summarise and link, the reporting belongs to the publications named. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.