For years, the far-right National Rally tried to distance itself from Mr. Le Pen’s racist and antisemitic remarks. But after his death Tuesday, it hailed him as a visionary.

French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, center, flanked by his daughter Marine Le Pen, and Bruno Gollnisch, arrives for a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Joan of Arc, within the party's traditional May Day march Saturday May 1, 2010, in Paris. Credit: AP/Jacques Brinon

Demonstrators were seen setting off fireworks and chanting slogans in Republic Square on Tuesday. Earlier that day, Le Pen, the founder of the National Front party, died at the age of 96.