Well, for the "Gilets Jaunes" manifestation, it is because Macron decided tout raise the taxes for fuel and a lot of people rely on their car to go to work in rural areas. But here in France we have, as you said, a culture of protest. This means that as long as there is a change, people will go on the street and protest. And with the rise of social media, protesters are making themselves a lot more louder. That's why I don't really think that Macron's politics are the reason behind the rise of protestations. Even though I don't agree with some of its measures. Furthermore, a lot a our political parties are against Macron because he is not left or right-wing so whatever he does is being criticized.

Hope my answer helped you ;-)