Thunder and lightning echoed over Marseille after the weekend's turmoil, lighting up shattered windows and sealed entrances of numerous shops that suffered damage when protests escalated into chaos.

France's second city faced some of the most severe clashes as disorder spread across the nation on Saturday. Local business representatives report over 500 sites were affected, with most also ransacked.

A police union leader informed the BBC that the weekend proved an apocalyptic ordeal for officers. 118 personnel sustained injuries, accounting for more than a tenth of the nationwide total.

Thus far, 101 detentions have occurred in the port city, with a quarter involving minors.

Yet by Monday, police stood out most on the streets rather than demonstrators. Gatherings were prohibited for eight hours to prevent a third straight day of trouble.

It appeared effective; the biggest central group observed was a band of rain-soaked visitors walking along the waterfront.

Even so, a nighttime restriction for those under 18 will start in sections of the city from Tuesday evening onward.

Marseille ranks among France's most varied cities, a hub where successive waves of newcomers have settled.

18-year-old student Maryame reached the southern city only weeks earlier, though from nearby rural areas.

It proved frightening as it marked her initial experience in a major urban center and her first protest, she noted.

Maryame described how disorder overtook the student march her companions attended once looters targeted stores.

She called the unity during the initial march inspiring and the later disorder alarming, yet she expressed mixed feelings on whether escalated clashes might prompt government attention.

The question of whether violence holds legitimacy is complex, she stated.

France's past rests on upheaval, and at times a major statement proves necessary.

At points it exceeds bounds.

'A level of violence never before seen'

For officers, the scale of breakdown came as a surprise, per one group representing frontline staff.

It amounted to warfare, said Arnaud Blaise from the UN1TE police union. A level of violence never before seen. Without precedent.

Ransacking occurred throughout the downtown area, including La Canebiere, Rue Paradis, and the Centre Bourse mall. Sites farther out, such as Grand Littoral and Le Merlan malls northward, also faced hits.

Blaise voiced worry that upcoming marches might repeat Saturday's pattern, with youths from poorer northern districts exploiting the turmoil, which he attributed to far-left instigators known as the Black Bloc.

The Black Blocs incited while the young seized chances to loot, Blaise said. That sparked pandemonium, with officers dashing in all directions and ultimately becoming overrun.

When asked about claims of excessive force toward peaceful students while allowing violent elements to ransack stores, he denied it outright, noting more officers than students were hurt.

Four thousand tear gas rounds were deployed before supplies ran out. At that stage retreat became unavoidable.

France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, whose resignation offer after the riots was turned down by President Macron, visited Marseille on Monday evening.

He arrived at City Hall, briefly seized by demonstrators on Saturday, and conferred with Marseille's Socialist Mayor Benoît Payan.

Payan sought explanations from officials on how the disorder unfolded.

Control slipped away and efforts followed to regain it. From beginning to end it was a failure, he said on Monday.

He argued that understaffed and mispositioned police must adjust methods.

Without a sharp shift in strategy, if high school students remain the sole focus, looting scenes will recur.

He added that little remains to plunder in Marseille, yet whatever is left will be taken.

Though the prohibition on assemblies in Marseille and limited nighttime restrictions elsewhere in France have yielded brief calm, further marches are set for the weekend.

At a damaged tram stop, 79-year-old grandmother Chantal Bellanger said she felt concerned, though that feeling had persisted for years.

France has clearly lost hold over many areas. Public services, hospitals, and education face dire conditions, while outlying districts lie neglected and rundown.

She mentioned prior work in those impoverished northern zones, marked by elevated poverty and crime, and feared an entire generation was turning to crime amid frustration and hopelessness.

It pulls at the heart, she said.

Watching children whose deeds will push them beyond society brings pain.

Additional reporting by Paul Pradier and Pol Reygaerts