May 1968 Forty Years Later: More from Paris

Our favourite Frenchman turns 40 today, May 28. He has great stories about how his parents were deeply involved in the revolutionary activity of Mai 1968, and that his mother had quite a time making her way through the barricaded streets to get to the maternity hospital to give birth to him.

Glad all went well then. Much has changed in Paris since , but the same effervescence is present everywhere. The events--and the soixanthuitards--are still very much in the news these days too. A recent poll indicates that 77 per cent of French population today think they would have been on the side of the students and strikers, had they had the chance. Of coure, the unpopularity of Nicolas Szarkozy and his rightist government have heightened the contrast between the ideals of then and today's problems.

We have been affected slightly by some demonstrations protesting Sarko's policies, but it's kind of fun to see how people hear work out their problems.

And now to do something interesting on the streets of Paris. No manifs today though.