The French Fantasy Is Coming to an End

Ms. MacNicol is a contributing Opinion writer. She wrote from Paris.

On Saturday, protests shut down large swaths of Paris. In parts of the city and around the country, pockets of these demonstrations turned violent. Looting and arson marked streets near Place de la République and in the First Arrondissement, where shop windows were broken and electric bikes were set on fire. In the city of Limoges, the 19th-century Hôtel de Ville went up in flames; in Lyon, a tourist office blazed.

Protests here began in late September with students in the suburbs exhausted by the conditions of their schools, including their inability to cool or heat classrooms, keep out rats or simply keep teachers.........

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