Protesters set fire to one of French President Emmanuel Macron 's favorite restaurants in Paris during clashes Thursday with riot police on the left bank of the Seine River.

Staff rushed to the restaurant "La Rotonde" in the Parisian district of Montparnasse to extinguish the fire that broke out in the canopy of the restaurant, where Macron celebrated the success of his 2017 election campaign.

An AFP reporter saw a group of men dressed in black firing firecrackers and throwing stones at the restaurant.
Fireworks thrown on the canvas awning caused a fire that required the presence of firefighters to put it out.

Riot police cordoned off the restaurant to protect it on the 11th day of national protests and strikes against Macron's project to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The restaurant "La Rotonde", with its red velvet seats and dim lights, which Picasso was one of the pioneers, has long been a favorite place for Macron and his wife Brigitte to eat even after he came to power.

In a decision his opponents criticized as elitist at the time, Macron used La Rotonde to host staff and political allies after he topped the first round of voting in 2017.

The restaurant was previously targeted because of its association with the 45-year-old president.

And in 2020, during violent anti-government protests organized by the "yellow vests", an arson attack destroyed the entrance to the building where the restaurant is located.

"When there are rallies and so on, you hear people saying death to La Rotonde, death to Macron," Gerard Tavanel, owner of the bistro with his brother Serge, told AFP at the time.

"It happens all the time: anonymous phone calls, people walking in in the middle of the day saying 'Death to Macron'," he added.