The usually busy Gare du Nord railway station seen empty on Thursday.
Widespread travel disruption is expected to continue in France for a second day on Friday as the largest nationwide strike in years continues.
Workers from a wide range of sectors are protesting against pension reforms.
More than 800,000 people took to the streets on Thursday, with violent clashes reported in a number of cities.
Widespread rail cancellations and disruption to flights are expected on Friday with only a fraction of the capital’s transport system working.
Paris’s bus and metro operator have said their walkout will last until Monday at least.
Other unions are expected to decide on Friday about their further strike plans, Reuters reports.
Many French workers are angry about President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to introduce a universal points-based pension scheme.
It would replace France’s current system which has 42 different pension schemes across its private and public sectors with variations in retirement age and benefits.
French police said more than 800,000 took to the streets across the country, including 65,000 in Paris.
Union leaders put the numbers higher, with the CGT union claiming 1.5m people turned out across France.
The disruption meant popular tourist sites, including the Eiffel Tower, were closed for the day and usually busy transport hubs like the Gare du Nord were unusually quiet.
In Paris there were reports of vandalism in places and police used tear gas to disperse protesters. In total, 71 arrests were made across the capital, police said.
Clashes were also reported in a number of other cities including Nantes, Bordeaux and Rennes.
Rail operator SNCF say 90% of regional trains were cancelled by the disruption on Thursday.
The Paris metro, which usually transports more than 4m passengers a day, had 11 of its 16 lines closed completely.
Hundreds of flights were also cancelled, with airlines warning of further disruption to come.
