Fete du Travail and the Sounds of Silence or Not

Today is May Day, the worker's holiday, and pretty much everthing is shut down here except for cafes and restaurants. The news is reporting that over 300 demonstrations are being planned by French workers. We verified with both the architect and contractor that no one would be working on the house today. They looked at us as if we were green for even asking. So we began to plan accordingly. A morning run up to town for a croissant and coffee, maybe getting the bikes on the road if the rain held off. Then the knock came at 8:45 am. Three plasterers have shown up! So we will continue to make progress on the house even on the fete du travail.