French President Emmanuel Macron was pelted with tomatoes during a surprise visit to a Socialist-held working class suburb north of Paris.
Macron's security detail opened an umbrella to protect him from the flying fruit - with bodyguards shouting ''Projectile!' as they tried to shield the leader.
Amongst the crowds, many jostled excitedly to take pictures of themselves with the president.
Macron strolled around a food market in the town of Cergy, shaking hands, chatting with young people and posing with them for selfies, in what the Elysee palace said was a way to show he was "listening to people's concerns, expectations and needs".
Macron, a centrist, has long faced accusations of being too elitist - charges that discouraged some left-wing voters from backing him in Sunday's runoff vote against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
"I want to give a message of respect and consideration to these areas that are among the poorest in the country right from the start of my new mandate," Macron told reporters in Cergy, where far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon won almost half of the votes in the first round of the presidential election.
Sources close to Macron say he needs to counter the challenge mounted by Melenchon for the parliamentary elections on June 12 and 19, a crucial hurdle which will determine the president's ability to govern for the next five years.
Melenchon, who came a strong third in the first round of the presidential vote after Macron and Le Pen, wants to rally a union of the left to dominate parliament and force Macron into an awkward "cohabitation".
The cost of living has emerged as voters' number one priority in this year of elections, which coincide with sharp rises in food, energy and petrol prices partly caused by post-pandemic disruptions and by the war in Ukraine.
Officials from working class areas say voters are particularly angry over rising prices of food staples including bread, rice and Ukraine-produced sunflower oil.
"The most basic stuff is now very, very expensive," Mohammed Djae-Rachid, the head of the local Comorian community told
Reuters TV.
"Imagine that, a bottle of cooking oil used to cost one euro, now it's three euros. All the stores are empty, it's becoming very hard for everybody," he said.
The incumbent president has secured 58.2% of the vote, compared with far-right candidate Le Pen's 41.8% share.
Exit polls are always extremely accurate in France, meaning major broadcasters and other media outlets called the Macron victory as soon as polls closed.
Macron celebrated with a rally by the Eiffel Tower following the release of the exit polls this evening.
Supporters in Paris started chanting ‘Five more years!’ in response to the projections.
However, protesters also gathered in the capital after the announcement, sparking clashes with riot police.
In an ambitious victory speech, Macron said: "From now on I am no longer the candidate for a party. I’m everyone’s President!’
He conceded that France was 'full of anger and division', but pledged: "Nobody will be left by the wayside."
