Sartorially speaking, France's Socialists are a mixed bag: canvas shorts and ageing deckshoes mingle with pristine polos and Gucci loafers; Issey Miyake miniskirts and Prada pumps with torn T-shirts and espadrilles.
What is more exceptional, judging from the 2,300 who attended the party's summer school in the late August sunshine of La Rochelle this weekend, is that their politics are a great deal more disparate than their taste in footwear.
Facing probably the most serious internal crisis in their history, the members of France's main opposition party can agree on very little bar their dislike of the current centre-right government and their disapproval of Tony Blair.
They are not, however, downhearted. "We are in the throes of a democratic debate that's at the extreme limit of the possible," said Jean-Louis Jacquet, a bearded pipe-smoker who has been a member since 1974. "But we've been here before. I'm confident we'll come through again."
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1558294,00.html
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