Widespread protests taking place across France over cost of living concerns

Hundreds of demonstrations over the cost of living are taking place across France today as high school students, who have been holding protests over school conditions, band together with the country's gilets jaunes (yellow vest) movement. 

A website set up by the organizers of Saturday's protests shows more than 800 rallies spanning all corners of the country were planned. 

In Paris, posters announcing the return of the yellow-vest movement have appeared on the streets as organizers seek to bring together grievances ranging from education and working conditions to purchasing power and the cost of living.

The prospect of yellow-vest demonstrators returning to the streets will evoke memories of the 2018 protests over high fuel prices that developed into one of the biggest challenges to Emmanuel Macron's presidency. 

Some protests descended into clashes with police, including on Dec. 1, 2018, when there was rioting around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Macron appealed for "calm and respect" on the eve of the protests, adding that the right to protest must go hand in hand with "respect for people and property," Le Monde reported Friday.