As a french person, I have to say that this movement is viewed with a lot of contempt by quite a large proportion of the population. They've been mocked as being "the first morons in french history to march in order to keep people from having rights".
Unfortunately, they are LOUD idiots, so... yeah.
And this is indeed a new low if it's more than a single dumb-as-a-rock father (I'd love to give him a taste of his own medecine... quel enfoiré!).
As for the joke about surrendering cheese eating monkeys... :evil grin: Yeah, keep joking, 'Murica. It's not like we even need to prove you wrong. Don't worry, we won't mention your "war of independance" in public.
Edit : But yeah, violent protests in France are dime a dozen. Tear gaz on the news is a common enough sight. It's just the very first protest in (litteraly) decades where the religious right is in the street!