PARIS — Marching with thousands of other protesters in Paris, hospital nurse Aya Touré put her finger on the pulse of many who took to streets across France on Thursday against the government of President Emmanuel Macron.

“Fed up. Really, really fed up," she said. “Those people governing us, they have no clue about real-life issues. We are paying the price.”

Strikes that hobbled the Paris Metro and disrupted other services, coupled with nationwide demonstrations that saw sporadic clashes with police who fired volleys of tear gas, gave loud voice to widespread complaints that eight years of leadership by France's business-friendly president have benefited too few people and hurt too many.

The day of upheaval for the European Union’s second-largest economy aimed to turn up the heat on new

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