Police fired tear gas at angry protestors on Saturday morning as riots kicked off for another weekend. About 1,500 “yellow vest” demonstrators met on the Champs Elysees as police braced for violent scenes in what protestors have dubbed “Act IV”.
The protests ran into a fourth weekend despite Mr Macron’s climbdown over new fuel taxes last week in a desperate bid to end the chaos.
Some 8,000 police officers were on duty in Paris, while 89,000 were deployed across the country.
Paris was in lockdown as tourist attractions including the Eiffel Tower were shut ahead of the mayhem.
Speaking on French television, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said: “We will do all we can so that today can be a day without violence, so that the dialogue that we started this week can continue in the best possible circumstances.”
It comes after Mr Philippe announced on Tuesday that the government was abandoning planned increased to fuel taxes for at least six months in a desperate bid to end the violence.
The move marked Mr Macron’s first U-turn since he came to power 18 months ago.
But the demonstrations have moved on and protesters are even demanding the President’s resignation.
The protests, named after the high-visibility safety jackets French motorists have to keep in their cars, started in November over fuel taxes.
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11am update: 211 people arrested as violence flares
More than 200 people have been arrested after police found them with weapons including hammers and baseball bats.
Police arrested 211 rioters in the capital as they fired tear gas at protestors.
It comes after Interior Minister Christophe Castaner warned of a “robust response”.