Student protests in France over school conditions that began about a month ago continued to spread across much of the country today, here in Nice included.

Here are a few shots (some NSFW) taken at the main march this afternoon before tear gas dispersed the crowd and brought the march, which went north along Avenue Jean Médecin from the central Massena Square to the square in front of the main train station, to an end. I don’t know what prompted the tear gas; fortunately a large portion of the crowd was at or near several intersections so they couldn’t be corraled back onto Jean Médecin.

Some smaller gatherings later emerged, mainly around Massena from what I could tell, but those too were eventually broken up as police began responding to scattered incidents of vandalism and looting. According to social media accounts, those continued through the afternoon and into the evening, several hours after the initial march, which began at about 2:15pm was broken up and forced back to Massena, at about 3:30. There were also several stand-offs with the police into the evening hours. Nice Matin has a live time-stamped report here.

We left Massena square at about 4:15 and didn’t witness any of the window-breaking, looting or stand-offs but some two hours later, a group of a dozen or so masked men walked down our street, some beneath our balcony, tipping over bikes, throwing cans at windows and pounding on a few cars – but mostly just shouting. It was annoying and dumb. But it was also a surreal scene, with passers-by —one a young mother pushing a stroller— on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street going by seemingly unfazed by the commotion just a few meters away.

According to a press release from the prefecture, 15 business storefronts were damaged, about 60 people were arrested for looting, damage and attacks on law enforcement, and 10 injuries were reported. Compared to what was happening in other areas of France throughout the day, Nice was relatively calm.

That said, the march itself, which attracted people of all ages and from all walks of life, was overwhelmingly peaceful — and loud. Nice Matin cited a crowd estimate of 3,500, but I’m sure it was at least twice, perhaps even three times that. I’ve photographed, watched and attended dozens of protests, vigils and demonstrations in Nice over the past five years, and this was by far the largest I’ve witnessed.

Photos from 17 October 2026.