Yellow Vests: Protesters Surprise French Police with Montmartre Demonstrations

Local Editor

Shops and restaurants in Paris’ Montmartre hill were forced to close their doors on Saturday as hundreds of 'yellow vests' took the French police by surprise by heading to Paris' artistic district instead of Versailles as had previously been mooted.

Hundreds of gilets jaunes marched through the touristy area of Montmartre in the direction of Sacre Coeur on Saturday morning as police prepared for a protest at the Palace of Versailles.

One of the more controversial figures of the movement Eric Drouet had initially named Versailles, once home to King Louis XVI who lost his head to the revolutionary guillotine, as the location for Saturday's so-called Act VI protests but at around 9 am changed the location to Montmartre. 

Protesters flooded through the area's cobbled streets before arriving at the famous monument and singing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise.

Police asked shops and restaurants in the area to close their doors as a precaution at around 10 am.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team