Student protesters blocked access to the Louvre Museum in Paris, leaving crowds of frustrated tourists stranded outside and sparking heated confrontations.

This comes as French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu proposed localised curfews nationwide amid escalating unrest.

Tourists gathered behind barriers, with some raising their middle fingers and shouting at demonstrators blocking the museum's entrance.

The blockade, organised by students from the Ecole du Louvre, was staged in solidarity with nationwide school protests over education funding, teacher shortages and deteriorating classroom conditions, with demonstrators also denouncing police repression.

Weeks of unrest have disrupted hundreds of schools across France, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets. Violent clashes with police have intensified, with nearly 2,400 arrests reported during the latest weekend of nationwide unrest, following more than 6,800 detentions linked to earlier student demonstrations.

The French government has pledged to deploy 3,000 additional substitute teachers to address shortages, but protesters have continued demanding greater investment in public education.