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France is deploying thousands of police to try to contain nationwide protests and road blockades by drivers angry over rising fuel taxes and Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

Tensions have been mounting around the grassroots movement that drew more than a quarter million people a week ago to protests across France, from Provence to Normandy and in between.

A new wave of protests is planned Saturday, including beneath the Eiffel Tower. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called for calm and promised tough police measures against unruly crowds.

Paris alone is deploying some 3,000 security forces, notably around tourist-frequented areas like the Champs-Elysees, after an unauthorized attempt last week to march on the presidential palace.

Two people have been killed and hundreds injured in the week of protests, which are posing a big challenge to Macron.

Authorities are struggling because the movement has no clear leader and has attracted a motley group of people with broadly varying demands. The protesters call themselves the "yellow jackets" for the neon security vests that drivers are required to keep in their vehicles.

A man caused a dramatic standoff with police Friday when he donned a neon vest and brandished an apparent grenade at a supermarket in the western city of Angers. He was later arrested.

Most of the protesters' anger is focused at Macron, a pro-business centrist accused of indifference to the struggles of ordinary people.

Macron has defended the fuel taxes as necessary to reduce France's dependence on fossil fuels, but promised to lay out new plans Tuesday to make the "energy transition" easier.