Paris, France - Oct 24, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Screenshots of closure announcements posted on official websites of Louvre Museum and Marseille's Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations

FILE: Paris, France - April 27, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of French national flag atop Les Invalides

FILE: Paris, France - April 28, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Boats on river

FILE: Paris, France - April 28, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Eiffel Tower

FILE: Paris, France - April 28, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Arch of Triumph, national flag of France

FILE: Paris, France - May 6, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Facade of Orsay Museum

Paris, France - Oct 17, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of protesters marching, police officers

Paris, France - Oct 23, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of boarded-up shops, pedestrians

Marseille, France - Oct 22, 2026 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of smashed glass at bus stop, traffic
10. Military trucks moving on street

Major museums and cultural venues across France, including the Louvre, closed on Saturday as a new round of nationwide protests drew an estimated 410,000 people onto the streets, with the government deploying 70,000 police and gendarmes in response.

The French Ministry of Culture announced ahead of the demonstrations that leading Paris institutions, among them the Louvre Museum, the Musee d'Orsay, the Orangerie Museum, the Grand Palais and the Picasso Museum, would remain closed for safety reasons. Several said visitors who had booked tickets through official channels would receive automatic refunds.

The closures extended well beyond the ministry's initial list. The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau confirmed that the Petit Palais, the Maison de Victor Hugo and Sainte-Chapelle also shut for the day, while outside the capital, Marseille's Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations and Lyon's Musee des Confluences followed suit.

Performance venues were similarly affected, with the Opera national de Paris confirming the closure of both the Palais Garnier and the Opera Bastille in response to the day's demonstrations. A number of other performances, exhibitions and cultural events across the capital were also canceled or rescheduled.

Banks, luxury boutiques and food shops near the Louvre and the Palais Garnier boarded up their windows and doors ahead of anticipated unrest.

The strain on France's cultural sector has spread from venue operations to consumer spending, with many Parisian theaters reporting slower ticket sales as the risk of looting and regional curfews deters audiences.

Demonstrations were authorized in eight cities nationwide, among them Lille, Strasbourg and Marseille. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said Saturday evening that police had arrested nearly 1,000 people during the day, while the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) trade union put turnout at nearly 800,000 -- almost double the official estimate.

Saturday's mobilization follows a wave of protests on Oct. 17 that drew around 550,000 people and brought 2,397 arrests amid violence, according to Interior Ministry figures.