An article in the Telegraph profiles a young woman who may be "France's Margaret Thatcher":

Dubbed France's Lady Thatcher by the newspapers, Mademoiselle Herold has been leading the rallies against the unions who have been crippling her country. Standing on a telephone box in her pearl earrings and high heels, she addresses crowds of 80,000, urging them to rise up against the striking teachers, Metro workers, rubbish collectors and air traffic controllers who are ruining people's lives.

She's somehow managed to skip past the de rigeuer anti-Americanism and see some of the underlying truths in individualism and the work ethic:

Here, she has been called Joan of Arc. "That is stupid," she says. "I love Britain. I love Margaret Thatcher. I love the way you have overcome the unions and are not afraid to privatise. I love the way you work so hard. In France, we have become lazy and staid. We think only of weekends, holidays and how great we once were. We need a dose of Thatcherism."

My hat's off to her.  Thatcher is the reason that GREAT European companies like Voda, Easyjet, and Ryanair found their home in the UK.