Several thousand people braved the rain and marched through central Paris on Sunday afternoon in a 'Day of Anger' directly targeting France’s embattled President François Hollande and his policies, reports FRANCE 24.
While police estimated the turnout at around 17,000, organisers placed the figure at 120,000.
The protest was called by a motley group of some 50 small and mainly right-wing organizations, however failed to attract bigger anti-Hollande movements.
Carrying banners saying, “The French are angry!”, the demonstrators called for a repeal of last year's law allowing gay marriage — one of Hollande's campaign pledges — and made a slew of other demands.
Some called for France's withdrawal from the European Union, a demand of the Eurosceptic right-wing National Front party, while others urged the respect of freedom of speech, a reference to the government's decision to ban a show by Dieudonné, a controversial comic whose sketches have been deemed anti-Semitic.
Many in the crowd complained about Hollande's tangled love life a day after the president announced his split with his partner Valérie Trierweiler following an affair with a younger actress.
"There are enough scandals surrounding the president; he is bringing dishonour to France," a 60-year-old woman who only identified herself as Marion, told AFP.
"You are here to say you are fed up," an organiser told the crowd, adding that France's leaders "are more preoccupied with their affairs ...than unemployment."
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.