President Emmanuel Macron appealed for calm on Sunday as France reeled from one of its most violent days of unrest in years after protests over high prices and public services left one demonstrator dead, thousands arrested and hundreds of police injured.
"Looking at these images, we have all asked ourselves: What was going through their minds? How can French people do this to France?" Macron said in a televised address to the nation.
"Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it. Tonight, we all feel anger and shame."
Nationwide demonstrations erupted into riots on Saturday, with a town hall torched, shops ransacked, and buildings covered in graffiti as violent groups clashed with police across the country.
One protester died after suffering a cardiac arrest during demonstrations in Paris. Police made more than 2,000 arrests across France, while more than 600 officers were injured, the Interior Minister said.
“It's like a war zone here,” said Dutch entrepreneur Tije De Boer, who was in Paris with his children and said the protests forced him to evacuate his hotel at Place de la Republique, a trouble hotspot on Saturday.
More than half a million people joined marches in scores of cities, marking the convergence of a month-long student movement with broader social discontent about rising living costs and declining public services.
The unrest laid bare the deep anger at Mr Macron, who leaves office in 2027 after a decade in power.
Macron said those protesting peacefully had legitimate grievances and their actions should not be confused with those seeking to wreak havoc.
The government has blamed the violence on hard-left and ultra-left groups, as well as criminals who it said instigated the looting.
While many protested peacefully, violent groups attacked public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets and attacked police vehicles and officers.
A massive clean-up operation began in cities from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said several hundred shops had been damaged on Saturday.
Smashed shops
In Paris, smashed shop windows, burnt-out bicycles and spray-painted slogans bore witness to a day that began largely with peaceful demonstrations but descended into violence.
In Limoges, in the south-west of the country, mayor Guillaume Guerin denounced the chaos after the city's 143-year-old town hall was set on fire and largely destroyed in an arson attack on Saturday. The violence drew comparisons to the 2019 fire that devastated Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral.
“There was a clear, premeditated intention to burn down the town hall, and the people inside feared for their lives,” Mr Guerin told Reuters. He threatened to resign if the city did not receive the funds needed to repair the building.
The unrest has increased pressure on Mr Macron and his government before a presidential election due next year. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed the unrest on the “ultra-left” and criminals.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure pledged support on Sunday for business owners who suffered losses. “Those who break things will pay, repair the damage and be held accountable for their intention to sow chaos,” Mr Lescure said in a statement.
Bordeaux mayor Thomas Cazenave said up to 100 stores had been looted in his city, while Marseille mayor Benoit Payan announced emergency financial aid to support those businesses affected by the violence.
French retailer Carrefour's chief executive Alexandre Bompard told the broadcaster BFMTV that 50 of the company's shops had been damaged, including 20 that were looted, with losses from the damage running into tens of millions of euros.
The youth protests began last month over school conditions and teacher shortages in working-class suburbs, before broadening into a movement against inequality, public spending cuts and the rising cost of living.