The first demonstrations days was marked on 16 October 2022, when tens of thousands of people marched in Paris to protest the rising cost of living, during an increasing political situation manifested by strikes at oil refineries and nuclear power plants that threaten to spread.[4] Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, known for as an "outspoken supporter of the left", participated the demonstrations.[4] Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), was also among the participants.[2]