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More than 270 people have been arrested at demonstrations across France as tens of thousands take to the streets to protest high prices and inequality.
The French Ministry of the Interior says 140 separate actions involving almost 33,000 people had been recorded by early afternoon.
Some 272 people have been arrested following violent incidents involving hooded individuals in areas like Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Angers.
Masked protestors stormed a town hall in Marseille on Saturday morning after ramming the doors with security barriers and shouting: “It's the Revolution, we're taking the Bastille.”
In Lyon, demonstrators set fire to the tourism office and smashed its windows, before trying to prevent firefighters from tackling the blaze.
"The movement is marked by a very strong mobilisation of far-left elements, whose sole intent is to incite disorder," the ministry said, adding that demonstrations have involved "targeted acts of violence" from "hooded individuals".
It accused some protesters of attempts at looting, attacks on police, starting fires and targeting government institutions, as well as damaging a police station in Marseille. Security forces have responded "swiftly and decisively", the ministry said. Tear gas has been fired at protesters in multiple locations.
In an update on X, Paris police said: "We do not back down in the face of rioters and those who come to attack the law enforcement forces." They accused "hostile individuals" of targeting police, adding that officers are facing them "with courage and professionalism".
The protests began last month at high schools in Paris' poor northern suburbs, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards.
A large police presence was visible in central Paris, especially near landmarks such as the Avenue des Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe, which were excluded from the routes of the two official demonstrations.
Hundreds of other protests were planned across France.
In Avignon, individuals entered the courtyard of the government Vaucluse prefecture, while protestors in Pau, Montpellier, Toulouse and Valence vandalised businesses, the interior ministry said.
Protestors in Grenoble damaged the city hall and launched an attack on a BNP Paribas bank, smashing the windows and trying to break through the doors.
Protesters in hi-vis vests blocked streets, an echo of the unrest that dogged President Emmanuel Macron's previous term, while in Marseille, trash cans were set alight.
"We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions," said a 19-year-old protester in Paris who gave her name as Lola.
The police have drawn criticism for their response due to a grisly list of injuries among demonstrators, including one teenager who had his hand blown off after picking up a stun grenade.
Prime minister Sebastien Lecornu said more than 900 police had also been injured.
The internal police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen cases of alleged police violence.
France suspended the use of stun grenades for the student demonstrations, but Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said they could be used on Saturday.
"If there were to be clashes, all types of intermediate weapons can be used," he told Telematin TV on Friday.
Mr Macron is entering the final stretch of his presidency, leaving behind a polarised electorate and a badly fragmented political landscape.
A long struggle to reduce rising public debt has not impressed investors, who are ditching French bonds, driving borrowing costs to their highest levels in more than two decades.
Mr Lecornu said on Thursday that authorities feared unrest during the protests. The government accused the hard-left France Unbowed of inflaming the protests, an accusation it denies.
Calls on social media for members of past protest movements to join the fray appear to have worked, suggesting the protests could grow significantly.
The Yellow Vest movement started in 2018 as a protest against taxes on diesel before expanding into an outpouring of anger at high living costs and income inequality.
However, things have been largely quiet since Macron agreed to billions of euros in tax cuts. Yannick Maillou, a teacher from La Crèche in western France, joined the Yellow Vests in 2018 and remains involved in the movement.
He said there were several nearby meeting points for protesters on Saturday, with unions also calling for participation.
Yellow Vests, which is helping lead Saturday’ protests, said there were more 1,756 mobilisations taking place, including 811 demonstrations.
It includes protests at petrol stations, refineries, oil depots, and ports, as the nationwide movement revolts against rising fuel prices.
Several hundred mostly young people also protested in Brussels on Saturday, with rioters clashing with police in unrest partly inspired by demonstrations in neighbouring France.
Belgian student groups have said they are protesting against rising education costs and reforms they fear will make higher education less accessible.