France Today: 10 November 2026

Education strikes and marches dominate Tuesday, as students, teachers and unions keep up pressure on Sébastien Lecornu’s government. The minimum wage rise announced on Monday has also drawn criticism from both unions and low-paid workers.

City news

Funding gap threatens Marseille’s planned suburban rail network

In Marseille, the planned regional express rail network for the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area, known as the Service express régional métropolitain (SERM), risks stalling for lack of funding. The conseil régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur has approved four networks, but the project is still seen as premature, even though Paris launched its own RER over fifty years ago. For commuters in the area, a better-connected rail system may still be a long way off.

Source: Marsactu

Lyon sets the date for this year’s Beaujolais nouveau

In Lyon and the Beaujolais, the 2026 Beaujolais nouveau goes on sale from Thursday 19 November. The release is an annual event for wine lovers, bars and winegrowers, and traditionally comes with gatherings across the Beaujolais area.

Source: Lyon Capitale

SNCF recruits rail security staff in Paris

In Paris, the SNCF is holding a recruitment forum today at Ground Control in the 12th arrondissement. Around a hundred permanent contracts (CDI) are on offer in rail security across Île-de-France.

Source: France 3 Paris Île-de-France

Strikes, protests and transport disruption

Two education marches in Paris, one of them banned

In Paris, a joint union front (intersyndicale) of secondary school pupils, university students and teachers has called a strike in education today. Two marches have been announced, from Bastille and at the Panthéon. The préfecture has authorised one and banned the other, and some protesters intend to defy the ban, so expect disruption around both sites.

Source: France 3 Paris Île-de-France

Student protests enter a new day with talks still stuck

Students and teachers are staging another day of strikes and demonstrations, nearly two months after secondary school and university students began protesting. Talks with the government remain deadlocked, which suggests more disruption to schools is likely.

Source: RFI

Physiotherapy students protest fees and practice limits

In Limoges, as elsewhere in France, physiotherapy students have been protesting since Tuesday 3 November against tuition fees at private schools of 6,000 euros a year and against limits on where they can set up practice early in their careers. The protests come ahead of talks between the profession’s unions and the Assurance maladie, the state health insurer, which begin on Thursday 12 November.

Source: France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Head teacher injured as tension rises at Bordeaux schools

In Bordeaux, bins were set on fire on Monday 9 November outside the closed gates of the Condorcet lycée in Bordeaux and the Émile-Combes lycée in Bègles. The head of the Bègles school was hurt by thrown objects, and the head teachers’ union has called a demonstration against the violence.

Source: Rue89 Bordeaux

Matignon meeting fails to satisfy students

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu met pupils and students at Matignon, his official residence, to try to end the crisis in schools. Talks covered the future of Parcoursup, the national university admissions platform, and how this year’s exams will be run, but the young people seemed unhappy with the answers they got.

Source: franceinfo Société

Cost of living

Minimum wage rise of 24 euros pleases no one

The Smic, France’s statutory minimum wage, will rise on 1 December, giving the workers who earn it 24 euros more a month. Most of the rise comes from automatic indexation to inflation, with a small extra boost from the government.

Source: franceinfo Économie

Unions call fresh protests after 1.6 percent rise

On Monday the government announced a 1.6 percent rise in the minimum wage, along with other measures to ease cost-of-living pressures. The rise falls well short of what trade unions wanted, and they have called new protests for the coming days.

Source: RFI

Aerial checks extended to sheds and extensions

The French tax authority already uses aerial photography to find undeclared swimming pools, and it is now extending the programme to undeclared house extensions, sheds and conservatories. Homeowners with unregistered additions to their property may be affected.

Source: The Local France

Minimum wage earners feel “a bit like beggars”

The minimum wage will reach about 1,502 euros a month, close to 24 euros more than now. Workers paid the Smic told franceinfo the rise does not convince them, and one said it felt “a bit as if we were beggars”.

Source: franceinfo Économie

What the government announced after the social conference

After a conference with unions and employers, Sébastien Lecornu promised a minimum wage rise above inflation from 1 December, along with cuts to social charges paid by businesses. The unions were not satisfied and have called for more of the protests that secondary school pupils began at the end of September.

Source: franceinfo

What it means for foreign residents

• If you are travelling in central Paris today, check the préfecture’s guidance on the Bastille and Panthéon marches before you set off (France 3 Paris Île-de-France).
• Parents should expect more school disruption while talks remain deadlocked and unions call further protests (RFI).
• Homeowners may want to make sure any shed, extension or conservatory has been declared to the tax authority (The Local France).
• Employees paid the Smic should see the rise on payslips from 1 December (franceinfo Économie).

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