France bangs pots and pans in fresh anti-pension protest
CTV
A country renowned for its cuisine is turning to pots and pans to express discontent with French President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms.
A country renowned for its cuisine is turning to pots and pans to express discontent with French President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms.
French demonstrations against raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 have morphed from lobbing paving stones, dodging tear gas and brandishing banners to something nearer the soul of the gastronomic nation: making noise by banging kitchen saucepans.
This very Gallic culinary cacophony -- called the "casserolade" -- began last week during a televised speech by Macron. Protesters gathered in over 400 spots in front of town halls and in the streets of Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Strasbourg and beyond, in an effort to drown out his voice.
The pan beating is taking place across France once more Monday evening at 8 p.m., at the behest of ATTAC, an anti-capitalism activist group.
Reacting to the din, Macron proclaimed during his visit to Alsace last week that "it's not saucepans that will make France move forward."
Yet that only fanned the flames underneath the saucepan action. French cookware manufacturer Cristel went to Twitter to declare that it was now making stainless steel pans specifically to "advance" the nation.
Such a culinary battle cry may sound like an unusual way to voice discontent, yet in France it is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years.
