Police fired tear gas and water cannon Saturday in central Paris against "yellow vest" protesters demanding French President Emmanuel Macron roll back tax hikes on motor fuel.
Some 3,000 police were deployed in the capital as demonstrators who have blocked French roads over the past week wearing their now signature high-visibility jackets were set to cause another day of disruption after calls to bring Paris to a standstill.
AFP reporters said several thousand had gathered by early Saturday on the famous Champs-Elysees where they clashed with police trying to prevent them moving down to the Place de la Concorde near the Louvre museum.
Police said the protestors had tried to break through a cordon several times but had been prevented from doing so, with tear gas used more than once.
"We have just demonstrated peacefully, and we were teargassed," said Christophe, 49, who travelled from the Isere region in eastern France with his wife to protest in the capital.
"We see how we are welcomed in Paris." Paris police authorities said Saturday's incidents were linked to the "presence of members of the far-right who harassed the security forces."
"He demanded that the yellow vests be received at the Elysee" presidential palace, local prosecutor Yves Gambert told AFP. Local official Bernard Gonzalez said: "There was a real risk, real danger, he had an explosive charge around his neck... This was not fake."