Today's "mobilisation" against the pensions reform has been an obvious success, both according to the media and according to reports I've heard about Toulouse and the surrounding towns.

Though the government goes on playing the usual silly game of having the police cite ridiculously low counts, they are admitting more people were out on the street than on previous days of action.

"Because the students joined in", says the Interior Ministry, while the government says that high-school and university students have no legitimacy to demonstrate in opposition to the reform, which is "being carried out for them".

The students, obviously, don't think so.

And now a new leg begins in this struggle. The unions alone were beginning to find it hard calling for strike action after strike action - people will go without a day or two's wages to protest, but more than that begins to bite into household income. The government was counting on the gradual abandon of strike action for that reason. Sarko's greatest fear (according to the Canard Enchaîné a few weeks ago, was that the students would join in.

And the government's hard line (which we've seen attempted again and again under the 5th Republic) just makes people more determined to push back.