In the capital, 46 arrests took place, according to a provisional assessment established shortly before midnight, police source.

A rally, originally organized by unions in the early evening at Place de la République, turned into a tense stand-off between a few hundred demonstrators and police, throwing projectiles against tear gas grenades.

They carried out several charges by drowning the Place de la République under a cloud of tear gas.

The metro station of the same name was also invaded by tear gas, even on the platforms and in trains running underground, AFP journalists found.

The station was temporarily closed around 21:00, because of this "presence of tear gas" inside, confirmed the RATP.

Rally against the pension reform, Place de la République, in Paris, March 21, 2023 © Ludovic MARIN / AFP

Shortly before midnight, demonstrators were playing cat and mouse with the police on the Place de la Bastille and its surroundings. Firefighters had to extinguish many garbage fires.

Other rallies, demonstrations and processions were organized in several French cities.

In Lille, the Series Mania festival was briefly disrupted when a few dozen protesters tried to burst onto the red carpet, shouting anti-Macron slogans, before being quickly pushed back by a police charge, AFP found.

Some 900 people had first participated peacefully in Lille in a demonstration against the pension reform, according to the prefecture of the North, then clashes opposed the police to some 250 people, "especially young people", according to a police source.

In Grenoble, nearly 5,000 people participated from 19:00 in a torchlight parade, according to the prefecture of Isère. Around 21:30 p.m., the authorities had not found "any notable incidents".

In Nantes, where 10,000 demonstrators according to the unions, 4,100 according to the police, participated in a procession with torches, the first tear gas was fired shortly after the beginning of the demonstration by the police, who were under heavy mortar fireworks, AFP found.

On the sidelines of the procession, damage was committed, businesses ransacked, with tags like "49.3 it will not pass", or "Macron only understands the riot".

In Rennes, 4,000 people - some of them with torches - according to the organizers, 1,200 according to the prefecture, walked calmly in the city center. A few hundred, however, continued their journey for a "wild demonstration", splitting into small groups to thwart the police apparatus.

Demonstration against the pension reform in Le Mans, March 21, 2023 © JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

Around 23:00, the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine reported 11 interventions of firefighters on fire starts, including a vehicle ignited by a garbage bin fire, and "four arrests for fire and rebellion".

In Le Mans, about 300 protesters gathered around a "fire sculpture" representing a "49.3", in reference to the article of the Constitution used by the government to pass the pension reform without the vote of the National Assembly, according to an AFP photographer.

© 2023 AFP