After largely peaceful marches on Saturday, clashes broke out in the evening. But a large-scale police presence, 1,000 arrests and the rerouting of protest routes kept a lid on wholesale vandalism.
The authorities deployed tens of thousands of security forces and banned demonstrations in some cities, hoping to avoid a repeat of the riots that shook the country a week ago.
The interior minister acknowledged that the police were underprepared for the scale of the riots. But Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended their efforts and pledged to restore order.
After anti-government protests devolved into chaos, leaders from across the political spectrum blamed one another for the unrest, even as it largely subsided on Sunday.
Riots broke out in several French cities alongside peaceful marches of tens of thousands of people demonstrating against rising living costs and poor school conditions.
A tourist office in Lyon, France, that was set on fire during unrest on Saturday. Many rallies stayed peaceful as weeks of student-led protests evolved into a national display of discontent.
Bally Bagayoko, the mayor of a working-class suburb near Paris, has been a regular presence at student demonstrations, prompting both applause and condemnation.
Mass protests over decrepit schools and absent teachers are in their third week, with more planned. Officials have failed so far to quell a movement drawing many adult supporters.
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