Anticipating a fourth straight weekend of violent protests, France has mobilised armoured vehicles and thousands of police, cordoned off Paris' boulevards and made plans to shut down tourist sites like the Eiffel Tower and Louvre.

The heavy security will put central Paris in a virtual lockdown against what the interior minister called radicalised and rebellious people, who authorities believe will join members of the "yellow vest" movement that has been holding anti-government demonstrations.

Nationwide, about 89,000 police will fan out in the streets, an increase from 65,000 last weekend, when more than 130 people were injured and over 400 arrested as the protests degenerated into the worst street violence to hit the French capital in decades.