What do gains made by France's far right party mean?

On Sunday, voting in local elections took place throughout France, and while Ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP pulled ahead, the country's far right National Front Party led by Marine Le Pen made major gains by garnering a large number of votes. To explain the implications of the elections, NPR's Eleanor Beardsly joins Hari Sreenivasan via Skype from Paris.