Fiery protests reignite in Paris over Notre Dame funding

A car, motorbikes and multiple barricades are ablaze in eastern Paris as a yellow vest protest has degenerated into scattered violence.

Paris firefighters are battling multiple small but impressive fires Saturday around the Place de la Republique.

The smell of tear gas mixed with black smoke choking the air.

Associated Press reporters saw a car and motorbikes on fire and multiple volleys of tear gas and dispersion grenades, as riot police worked to control the crowd. Several protesters also set flares.

Police fired tear gas amid tensions at a march of several thousand people from France's Finance Ministry toward the Place de la Republique plaza in eastern Paris. 

French television showed images of volunteer medics treating a yellow-vested protester lying on the ground.

While that neighbourhood was tense, overall Saturday's yellow vest actions have been peaceful.

Many protesters are frustrated that the international effort to help fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral has eclipsed the five-month-old yellow vest movement against wealth inequality.

French yellow vest protesters returned to the streets today to remind the government that rebuilding the fire-ravaged monument isn't the only problem the nation needs to solve.

Many protesters were deeply saddened by the fire at a national monument.

But many are angry at the $1 billion in Notre Dame donations that poured in from tycoons while their own demands remain largely unmet and they struggle to make ends meet.