France woke to scenes of extensive destruction on Sunday after a day of riots and protests, with shop windows broken, burned-out cars, charred bicycles, and heaps of glass and debris on the pavements of Paris.

Police detained around 1,800 people on Saturday as roughly 550,000 demonstrators filled the streets for protests that remained mostly calm.

They marched against increasing fuel costs, living expenses and declining public services, including schools.

Bands of rioters, some clad in black and wearing masks and balaclavas, also appeared in Paris, Marseille and other towns and cities, with some igniting cars and structures.

Broad looting occurred across the cities of Paris, Marseille and Lille, as well as additional zones.

In Paris, protesters confronted riot police, who deployed tear gas and water cannon against the crowds. During the day, some groups started fires in the street and set vehicles ablaze. At least one restaurant was destroyed by fire, and the BBC observed clashes erupting among some of the groups.

Riot police were observed charging one crowd in central Paris and striking several people with batons.

"It is like we had a war," Paris resident Mehmet Ozeden told news agency AFP.

Another resident, Anita GrasIt, described it as "terrifying" to witness groups of young people "smashing everything, with total impunity".

The looters were "proudly carrying supermarket baskets filled with goods and laughing about their thefts", Maryse, a woman living nearby who gave only her first name, told the BBC.

Further south in Marseille, protesters forced entry into the city hall using a metal fence as a battering ram. In Lille, a McDonalds was set ablaze, police said, and an Apple store in the city was entered and looted.

More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters sustained injuries in the unrest on Saturday, France's interior ministry said.

Around 1,500 shops and retailers also suffered damage in the disturbances, the Retail and Trade Federation said.

On Sunday morning in Paris, residents assessed the aftermath, which included the broken glass fronts of designer stores including Ralph Lauren, Gucci and Versace.

Shopkeepers emerged early with brooms, collecting large pieces of glass as they started the clean-up. Rubbish trucks moved along some of the larger streets to remove some of the debris.

Many shops were marked with graffiti, some reading "tax the rich" and "eat the rich."

The BBC visited a clothes shop close to the Place de la République which had been ransacked, with piles of clothes and furniture scattered across the shop floor.

The shop's distraught owner told the BBC he saw looters on the CCTV who were in the shop for just over an hour and a half, and that during that time he saw no police in the process.

The owner - who asked not to be identified - told the BBC he did not believe any of those who robbed the shop were genuine protesters against school conditions or the cost of living. He said the looters were taking advantage of the demonstrations.

Close to the Place de la République, a BBC reporter visited the Good Vibes bakery, whose glass front was completely shattered, and the Nicolas wine store, where every bottle was either stolen or smashed, leaving smell of alcohol lingering in the street.

CCTV footage shown on France's Channel 2 shows groups of teenagers, mostly wearing masks, in a shop selling mobile phones helping themselves to items from the shelves.

Student protests in France have seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets since they began late last month. Protesters have been demanding additional investment in their schools, criticising the lack of teachers and staff, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings.

France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that while demonstrating was a fundamental right, there were "outrages" committed by "several thousand far-left individuals" who were determined to target public buildings and confront the police.

Later, they were joined by "delinquents who looted and ransacked numerous businesses in several cities in France", he said.

In the city of Lyon, Mayor Grégory Doucet said the burning of the city's tourist office was "a tragedy", telling French outlet BFMTV that "it breaks our hearts because it's a very iconic, well-known historic building".

Local police said "hostile individuals" prevented firefighters from safely tackling the blaze.

Fire crews also battled a fire at Limoges town hall, which caused part of the building to collapse. Local officials said the town hall was "largely lost."

"A wild horde" had "deliberately" set fire to the 143-year-old building, said Maurice Barate, the prefect for the Haute-Vienne department.

Elsewhere, a young man "had his hand blown off" by a small explosive in Saint-Étienne, the south-eastern city's Mayor Régis Juanico said on social media.

"Such a tragedy should never have happened," he said.