Every child in France went back to school the first week of September.  The French call it la rentrée—literally, the return—and it means more than the return to school.

It’s the time when vacations end, everyone goes back to work, and shops and businesses which may have been closed during the long summer holidays return to their normal schedules.  Here on the Côte d’Azur, the summer visitors go home.  The lines at the grocery store are shorter, and it’s easier to park.  The villages have a feeling of settling back into routines.  And the schools reopen their doors.

From 12th August 2008, a report on the risk of exposure to lead must be annexed to all new or renewed rental contracts concerning property for which the planning permit was issued prior to 1st January 1949.  This is in addition to the natural and technological risks report which became obligatory from 1st June 2006 and the energy performance report which came into force on 1st July 2007.