Cooking pots banned at anti-Macron protests in France, drawing ridicule

Thousands of French citizens took to the streets again on Thursday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron and his controversial pension reform plans.

Before a visit by Macron to Ganges in the south of France, police turned away protesters carrying cooking pots that had been used to make noise, videos showed. Media also reported pots being confiscated.

The officers said they had received an order that banned the carrying of “portable sound devices” for the duration of the presidential visit, which apparently included pots.

In recent days, demonstrators had made their displeasure with Macron’s pension reform known by banging pots loudly.

“Eggs and pots, that’s what I use for cooking,” Macron said at the beginning of his visit to southern France, where demonstrators threw eggs and potatoes at the head of state from a distance.

Opposition politicians ridiculed the state crackdown on cooking pots.

“It is not the pots that will move France forward,” Macron had said at a drum protest in the region of Alsace on Wednesday.

Cristel, a traditional pot manufacturer, reacted wryly: “Mr President, at @cristelfrance we make cooking pots that move France forward!”

Thousands of people in France protested again on Thursday against the reform Macron has since enacted, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, among other changes.

Instead of large demonstration marches as in the past, there were various smaller protest actions.

In the northern city of Lille, demonstrators temporarily blocked railway tracks, while in Paris, trade union members marched to the La Défense business district to protest.

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