The demonstration started on Thursday afternoon and it is the school students' second this week and the fifth in two weeks.
Police estimated the number of protesters at 19,000, but the protest organisers claim there were between 30,000 and 40,000 people taking part.
French Education Minister Xavier Darcos said: "We hear the students and they are right to be worried about their future, but it is a lie to make them believe that the school issue is a numbers game.
"It is necessary to reform schools; it is not because there will be 100 more or 100 fewer that things will change. Students must not repeat union slogans, they mustn't hide behind popular movements, we must discuss reform, we need it and the reform is not quantitative, it is qualitative."
Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon and Grenoble also have had smaller protests taking place.
