Our final piece of Parisien culture: the general strike

We still have one week left in France (heading to Aix-en-Provence tomorrow afternoon), but today we will experience a truly French phenomenon: a large strike in Paris (all of France?) to protest impending changes to the retirement system.  The government proposes to add 2 years to the mandatory retirement age, forcing everyone to work 2 years longer.  (There are other issues, but I my French is not good enough to follow all the subtleties.)  I was a little worried about how I might get to work but it turned out to be no problem at all.  The Metro was running normally on my line at 7:15 this morning and the bus was on time and didn't encounter more than the usual traffic.  So here I am...  Since I am giving a seminar presentation this morning, it was important to actually arrive at close to the right time!