France will deploy thousands of police in and around Paris and set up checkpoints at toll stations on major roads leading into the capital to keep so-called "Freedom Convoy" motorists out, the city's police force said.
Despite an order not to enter Paris, people protesting against Covid-19 restrictions are converging on the French capital from multiple cities across France, inspired by the demonstrations taking place in Canada.
The French "Freedom Convoy" protests, however, show signs of uniting a disparate group against President Emmanuel Macron two months out from April's presidential election, with remnants of the 2018/2019 anti-government "Yellow Vest" movement and some far-right politicians rallying behind the protesters. "We've been going around in circles for three years.
We saw the Canadians and said to ourselves, 'It's awesome, what they're doing.' In eight days, boom, something was sparked," said one protester Jean-Marie Azais, headed to Paris from the southwest.