Pierre, a sales assistant at Micromania in Nice, has been praised after footage showed him trying to protect his workplace from looters during recent French protests.

Videos captured him blocking the entrance and chasing looters away before he was kicked to the ground. Despite his efforts, the store was ransacked, leaving Pierre and his colleagues without a workplace.

After fake fundraisers reportedly appeared online, Pierre launched an official fundraiser to support himself and his colleagues as they face an uncertain future.

Despite widespread praise, Pierre remains humble: “I’m not a hero. I’m just a normal guy who wants to work.”

Protesters have reportedly fired fireworks at riot officers in Rennes, in northern France, where 11,500 people came out to demonstrate on Saturday.

Law enforcement also fired tear gas at the protesters in videos shared by local French media.

French media report varying estimates of the number of people marching across the country today.

CGT, one of the largest trade unions, said that nearly 800,000 people had mobilised in France, according to newspaper Le Monde. But the French Ministry of Interior put the number at 410,000 people.

In Paris, CGT counted 250,000 demonstrators on the streets, while the Ministry of Interior said there were 110,000.

The Orsay and Picasso museums are also among those that are closed, the ministry said.

The ministry called on all institutions under its authority to adopt any necessary measures to ensure “visitor safety, staff protection and the preservation of artworks”.

Clashes between protesters and police have been reported in Marseille near an arch where a planned demonstration was scheduled to conclude.

Young men, many with covered faces, had dragged large streets of metal into the street as barricades, according to The New York Times. Others threw rocks and bottles at riot police, and officers fired volleys of tear gas at protesters.

Disappointed tourists poked their heads through the Louvre’s locked gates on Saturday, shut off from the Mona Lisa as galleries and ⁠museums across Paris closed as a precaution ahead of fresh demonstrations.

“When we came, we thought there could be a problem but not that the museum would be closed,” Italian social educator Selena Bertoni, 31, said in front of the Musée d’Orsay.

On a four-day trip to Paris she ⁠had paid €50 for two tickets to see its ​Impressionist ⁠paintings and other masterpieces.

“Bad timing,” she said, with a shrug.

The closures came one week after nationwide demonstrations over the cost of living and deteriorating public services descended into some of the worst street violence that France has seen in years. The violence ⁠and damage prompted the government ‌to impose localised curfews and close many public venues ahead of demonstrations planned on Saturday.

The shutdown extended across much of the capital’s cultural sector, including the Orangerie, ‌Jeu de Paume and Picasso museums, while the entire ‌Tuileries Gardens complex that leads out of the Louvre was sealed off.

“This is the third museum we have come to that is closed. They should’ve warned us,” French visitor Heidi Rosar, 21, said.

At the Louvre, ⁠the locked black iron gates blocked access to the entire site and the garden.

“We wanted to at least see the pyramid,” 67-year-old Canadian Don Nowschuk said, referring to the museum’s landmark glass entrance.

On a two-night stay in the City of Light, Nowschuk suggested the local authorities might be overreacting.

“There is so much security that you would think it would be enough to secure the museum,” he said.

“It’s a bit weird to see so many cops with guns around Paris. We are used to guns but not like this.”

The disruption extended to the performing arts sector. ‌The Paris Opera shuttered both the Palais ⁠Garnier and the Opéra Bastille, citing safety concerns for staff and audiences.

Organisers of `the prestigious Art Basel Paris fair also cancelled its weekend programme. The cultural centres posted warnings about the ‌closures on Friday, but some ​people never thought to check.

“How could we have known? We didn’t think a museum could be closed. We are a bit naive,” 59-year-old French woman Catherine Sebbagh said.