Protesters broke into the town hall in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, before being forced out by police.

Axar.az reports, citing France 24, that protesters clashed with police in Paris and other French cities during nationwide demonstrations over rising prices ahead of the presidential election.

In Paris, police used water cannon and tear gas after hundreds of protesters, many wearing face masks and some setting off fireworks, confronted officers at several locations, according to AFP reporters.

The offices of French broadcasters CNews and Europe 1 in western Paris also had their windows smashed after protesters threw projectiles.

Thousands of demonstrators converged for a march through Paris, cutting main roads and prompting authorities to close many metro stations in the centre.

The protests are piling pressure on President Emmanuel Macron's government after weeks of student demonstrations that turned violent at times. There has been public criticism over the police's perceived disproportionate response.

More than 32,000 protesters had taken part in some 140 actions nationwide outside Paris shortly after midday on Saturday, a source at the interior ministry told AFP.

Police detained more than 160 people nationwide, the source said.

"We're taking the Bastille," one demonstrator shouted in Marseille as masked protesters rammed the door of the mayor's offices with security barriers, in reference to the 1789 storming of a fortress during the French Revolution.

Several then entered, one spray painting an anarchist "A" symbol on an inside wall, before police intervened to disperse them.

"We're here to protest the deplorable resources allocated to education and against police brutality," said Aude, a masked student who did not give her surname.