France is aflame as peaceful protests over the cost of living devolve into chaos and looting

Protesters march through central Paris amid fires, smoke, and police during nationwide demonstrations against the cost of living.

Firas Abdullah/Anadolu via Getty Images Smashed shop windows and cars on fire — that's what happened when protests unraveled in Paris on Saturday.

Saturday's chaos was an escalation in violence after weeks of demonstrations in the country.

Students and workers alike have been taking to the streets to protest the cost of living.

A series of protests over the cost of living devolved into chaos and violence across France on Saturday.

Students had been taking to the streets in more than 40 French cities for a month, protesting what they say is underfunding in the education system.

They were joined this weekend by yellow vest activists and workers angry about the cost of fuel, groceries, and other necessities.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said during a media briefing on Saturday that 110,000 protesters took to the streets in Paris and that 550,000 had turned out across France.

The Confédération Générale du Travail , France's largest trade union and a supporter of the mass demonstrations, said those numbers were even higher, estimating nearly 800,000 nationwide.

What began as peaceful protests turned violent in central Paris and other parts of the country, devolving into looting and chaos across the city.

Mobile phones, luxury goods looted as French protests turn violent Looters ransacked an SFR mobile phone store during protests on October 17.

Djoudi Hamani / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images Looting kicked off around the Place de la République in the French capital, where young people smashed their way through shop windows and made off with merchandise, the AFP reported.

The mob hit an SFR mobile phone store and other outlets that sold luxury goods and clothing.

Grocery chain outlets were looted, too A Franprix store was looted.