[Badger52]

So what's the colloquial for "torches & pitchforks" en Francais?

This seems to be going on for a bit and Macron seems to be pissing off one "stakeholder" after another; now the ambulance drivers.

The protests are against Article 80 of the Macron government’s 2017 Social Security Budget, which reforms the financing of the social security system affecting how ambulances are paid for their service.

Hitherto in France, patients decided which ambulance company to use, but the reforms will see hospitals and clinics choosing which service to engage by tender, paying the costs directly.

Smaller ambulance firms fear larger companies will fix prices and force them out.
...
After the third weekend of protest in Paris, Macron met with government figures on Sunday to discuss how to deal with the expanding protests, a spokesman confirming that introducing a state of emergency was on the table.
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AFP reports that there will be a debate on the situation in the National Assembly on Wednesday, and a debate in the upper chamber, the Senate, on Thursday, while finance minister Bruno Le Maire is looking to speed up planned tax cuts and cuts to public spending in response to the riots. [in other words, they're "winging it."]

However, Macron has maintained that he will not back down from his progressive climate change agenda and fuel duty will rise again in the new year.

LINK to latest shenanigans.
Additional take at Deutsche Welle

Let 'em eat cake, I've got