Trucks tangle traffic in Paris to protest holiday fair spat

PARIS – Carnival workers are creating traffic chaos in Paris to protest the city’s ban on a popular Christmas fair on the iconic Champs-Elysees Avenue.

The French road authority reported increased traffic on several highways into Paris during Monday morning rush hour. French broadcasters showed trucks running a so-called “escargot operation” on a highway west of Paris, driving at a snail’s pace across multiple lanes.

Riot police vans were stationed on Paris’ western edge to block carnival trucks from entering the city after the Paris police chief said they would enforce City Hall’s ban on the fair.

The city voted in June to change the format of the Christmas market, saying it had become too commercial. Carnival magnate Marcel Campion and his supporters have objected. Negotiations last week failed to defuse the dispute.