Bordeaux march on 5 November: meet at 12:30 pm at place de la République, 4 km to place de la Victoire
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- In Bordeaux, the meeting is at place de la République at 12:30 pm on Thursday 5 November, with departure around 1 pm (France 3: around 12:30 pm).
- Route: place Gambetta, allées de Tourny, porte de Bourgogne, then place de la Victoire, about 4 km.
- Aims: the cost of living, wages and pensions, public services, jobs and industry; led by the CFDT, CGT, FO, Unsa and FSU.
- Trams crossing the route are interrupted for several hours; 12 schools are fully closed (France 3). The prefecture’s position could not be verified.

In this article
Meeting point and how the day unfolds
According to France 3, ICI, Le Bonbon and Bordeaux Visite, the Bordeaux march on Thursday 5 November gathers at place de la République. The meeting is set for 12:30 pm, with a departure around 1 pm according to several outlets; France 3 writes “around 12:30 pm”. This gap of a few minutes comes from the sources: the organisers’ final announcement could not be verified. ICI expects several thousand people. France 3 writes that 70,000 people marched in Bordeaux the previous Saturday, but we could not identify who puts forward that figure.
The route (about 4 km)
The outlets agree on the following order: place de la République, place Gambetta, allées de Tourny, porte de Bourgogne, then place de la Victoire, where the march ends, about 4 km in all. ICI gives more detail: from cours d’Albret to place Gambetta, then the allées de Tourny, rue Esprit des Lois, the quays, the porte de Bourgogne, and the cours Victor-Hugo and Pasteur. According to ICI, the route avoids the very centre of town. The list of closed streets and their times does not appear in the articles used.
Why march: aims and organisers
The call comes from the national intersyndicale (the unions’ joint front), around the CFDT, the CGT, FO, the Unsa and the FSU; according to ICI, Solidaires and the CFE-CGC are also among the organisations in Gironde. High-school and student organisations are joining the movement, and France 3 says that gilets jaunes (yellow vests) will take part and continue on 6 and 7 November. The aims: to denounce the cost of living, to win better wages and pensions, better purchasing power, more resources for public services and social protection, and to defend jobs and industry. In education, school resources and study and working conditions are cited. The seven national demands are set out in our previous article (news-fr-20261104-greve-5-novembre-revendications-intersyndicale).
Effects on trams, buses and trains
TBM (Bordeaux trams and buses): about 5% of drivers are on strike; lines that cross the route will be interrupted for several hours. Announced frequencies: trams A, C, E and F every 10 minutes, B every 5 minutes (10 on some branches), D every 7 minutes 30 seconds (15 on the Cantinolle branch), express bus G every 7 minutes 30 seconds and H every 15 minutes. For lianes 4, 9, 16 and 31, the articles give 10 to 15 minutes depending on the case. These frequencies may change while the march passes: check infotbm.com. Trains: about one TER in two in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with TGV and Intercités “slightly disrupted”; forecasts by line were due to be published from 5 pm on Wednesday 4 November.
Schools, daily life and other marches
According to France 3, the City is fully closing 12 schools (Condorcet, Flornoy, Franc-Sanson, Jacques-Prévert, Jean-Jacques Sempé, Lac III, Louise-Michel, Marie-de-Gournay, Stendhal, Suzanne-Martin, Vaclav Havel, Vieux-Bordeaux), and morning care, school meals and after-school activities are changed elsewhere. ICI says there will be no minimum childcare service in most Bordeaux schools. Bordeaux Visite does not confirm any general closure, so the information differs. The detail by school is on bordeaux.fr/greve. Drivers are advised to avoid the city centre during the march. In Gironde, ICI also announces a march in Libourne at 5:30 pm, on the esplanade François-Mitterrand.
Points not verified
The articles used do not let us verify the prefecture’s position (authorisation of the route, security arrangements), any separate high-school or student gatherings and their times, the list of closed streets and their times, or the number of participants on the day. The programme may change with announcements from the unions, the prefecture and TBM: check the official sources before travelling.
Learn the grammar
French grammar
Learn sentence patterns and usage from the article’s own sentences.
01Negation and its scope
ne / n’ … pas · ne … plus
Cet écart de quelques minutes vient des sources : l’annonce définitive des organisateurs n’a pas pu être vérifiée.Key pointsNormally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.
02Citing a source with selon
selon + noun / organisation
Le rendez-vous est fixé à 12 h 30, avec un départ vers 13 h selon plusieurs médias ; France 3 écrit « vers 12 h 30 ».Key pointsSelon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.
03Pouvoir: ability and possibility
peut / peuvent / pourrait + infinitive
Ces fréquences peuvent changer pendant le passage du cortège : consultez infotbm.com.Key pointsPut a base-form verb after pouvoir. Peut means “can” or “may”; the conditional pourrait gives a more reserved possibility, “might”. It does not necessarily mean implementation is settled.
04The present of être
est / sont + complement
Côté éducation, les moyens des établissements et les conditions d’étude et de travail sont cités.Key pointsEst is third-person singular and sont third-person plural of être. They express “is / are” — a state or description. If a past participle follows, it is a different structure such as the passive, so check the words that follow.
05The subject relative pronoun qui
noun + qui + verb
France 3 écrit que 70 000 personnes ont défilé à Bordeaux le samedi précédent, sans que nous ayons pu identifier qui avance ce chiffre.Key pointsQui continues a description of the person or thing just mentioned (“the one that does…”). Because qui is itself the subject of the next verb, do not repeat the subject. The verb agrees with the noun qui refers to.
06Delimiting an interval
de … à … / du … au …
Pour les lianes 4, 9, 16 et 31, les articles donnent de 10 à 15 min selon les cas.Key pointsDe…à… shows the start and end, “from … to …”, and is also used for changes in figures. With dates, de + le becomes du and à + le becomes au, giving forms like du 13 au 15. Check whether the interval concerns dates, times or amounts.
Japanese grammar
Understand the structure and usage from the text.
01Citing a source: によると
noun + によると
France 3、ICI、Le Bonbon、Bordeaux Visiteによると、5日(木)のボルドーの行進は、共和国広場(place de la République)が集合場所です。Key pointsAs in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.
02Plan, outlook and policy
〜の予定 / 〜見込み / 〜方針
当日の予定は、組合、県庁、TBMの発表で変わることがあります。Key points予定 is a plan, 見込み a forecast and 方針 a course of action or intention. None of them asserts that something has already been carried out. Note the difference from expressions such as “決まりました”.
03Quoting with と: content and report
plain-form sentence + と + verbe de parole (報じる, 説明する…)
集合は12時30分、出発は13時ごろと伝える報道が多く、France 3は「12時30分ごろ出発」と書いています。Key pointsと takes the content that is reported or explained. In “改定する方針だと報じました”, “改定する方針だ” is what the report said. Separating the content from who said it and how makes long sentences easier to read.
04Treating a clause like a noun with こと
plain-form sentence + こと + particle
行進のあいだは変わることがあるので、infotbm.comで確認してください。Key points“〜すること” treats an action or content like a noun. The particle after it (が・を・は…) shows its role in the sentence. “ことができる” is a fixed combination meaning “can”.
05Possibility in Japanese: できる・られる
verb potential form / 〜ことができる
数分のずれは報道の違いで、主催者の最終発表は、ここでは確認できませんでした。Key pointsできる is the basic verb for ability. The potential form of 受ける is 受けられる. The same られる can also be passive or honorific, so decide from the meaning of the sentence.
06Linking actions with the て-form
verb て-form + next expression
ICIは、数千人の参加を見込むと伝えています。Key pointsThe て-form links actions in a series, in order or as a reason. In “確認して、出発する” the relation is judged from the content. In “〜ている” it can show an action in progress or a continuing state.