French couple go viral as they keep drinking and smoking amid destruction of Paris

A couple have gone viral after they were seen enjoying a drink close to the Arc De Troimphe where some of the main rioting took place in central Paris on Sunday.

The couple continued to drink wine and smoke as as protests unfolded in the background. Flames from a burning trash can could be seen in the distance as the two talked.

France was gripped by a second night of looting and violence on Sunday, deepening the crisis Emmanuel Macron is facing during the country’s worst riots in decades.

Clashes between police and protesters, massive looting and multiple blazes gripped France on Saturday, as nationwide marches against soaring inflation degenerated into street violence of "extreme intensity".

The widespread unrest follows weeks of student protests and deepens political uncertainty as the country readies for elections in six months' time to replace President Emmanuel Macron.

Whole streets in Paris "have been devastated", the city's mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, said as groups of masked young men torched parked cars and ransacked many shops.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who earlier slammed the "violence of extreme intensity", said late Saturday that 1,200 people had been arrested and 150 police officers hurt.

The violence began on the sidelines of marches in the capital and other cities over the cost of living that the interior ministry said were attended by 550,000 people. The CGT union, which took part, said 800,000 people participated.

Police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters who threw projectiles and aimed fireworks. A 17-year-old boy had his right hand blown off by a crowd-control grenade in the southern city of Saint-Etienne.

During and after those demonstrations, gangs of youths roamed city streets, sporadically confronting police, while setting fires and attacking shuttered stores to break in and empty their shelves.

Scores of shops -- supermarkets, pharmacies, luxury boutiques, clothing retailers, opticians, cosmetic vendors and consumer electronics stores -- were looted in Paris, Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Bordeaux, Limoges, Lille, Toulouse and Strasbourg.

AFP reporters in Paris saw groups of half a dozen young men often attacking the shops in an organised way: wearing masks and gloves, they first disconnected security cameras before smashing windows to get in.

The looting added to a day of destruction and vandalism, with town halls in several cities targeted.

The one in the city of Limoges -- more than 140 years old -- was largely destroyed by a blaze set by masked protesters who broke in, according to the region's top official. Two others were broken into and vandalised in Marseille and Lille.

A police compound in Bordeaux was also vandalised, while in Lyon protesters set ablaze a tourist office.

Macron vowed on X that "those who carried out vandalism, attacked administrative offices or businesses, or carried out looting -- even in our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished".

Opposition politicians vying to replace Macron in presidential elections in April and May seized on the chaos.