Protesters brandished placards calling for Mr Macron to stand down and branding him a “thief”.
The demonstrators are fighting taxes Mr Macron slapped on diesel and petrol last year in a bid encourage the use more environmentally friendly forms of transport.
Diesel prices have risen 23 percent in the past 12 months while Mr Macron’s approval rating has sunk as low as 21 percent in recent opinion polls.
The “yellow vest” protests are named after the fluorescent jackets worn by protesters, which motorists must keep in their cars by law.
More than 5,000 people descended on the Champs Elysee where officers stopped them from advancing to the presidential palace nearby.
A trailer was set on fire and exploded on the Champs Elysees and a man who tried to attack fire fighters was overpowered by some of the demonstrators themselves.
On the nearby Avenue de Friedland, police fired special rubber balls to control demonstrators.
Riot police arrested 22 people in Paris and at protests in other parts of the country.
Two people have been killed in the protests so far, including a 62-year-old woman who was run over by a motorist who panicked after her car was surrounded by demonstrators.
A poll this week indicated that 73 percent of people in France have expressed support for the protests, which have been characterised as a grassroots movement lacking in clear leadership.
Mr Macron admitted failing to “reconcile the French with their leaders” and had “not given them enough consideration” but is standing firm and refusing to back the fuel taxes.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner accused far-right leader Marine Le Pen of fanning the protests in the capital.
He said: ”The ultra-right is mobilised and is building barricades on the Champs Elysees. They are progressively being neutralised and pushed back by police.”
In a message on Twitter, Le Pen said she had questioned why no protests were being allowed in the area.
She said: ”Today Mr Castaner is using this to target me. This is low and dishonest.”