First day of school

The big day finally arrived: la rentrée scolaire, the day children all over France go back to school.

It's a big a thing here, and it goes hand in hand with the other rentrée, when people return from their long summer vacations. Maybe it's just our excitement for being in Paris, but it seems there's a special energy and excitement around la rentrée, something I haven't felt around this time of the year in other places I've lived. Everyone is back from vacation, rested and energized (and sun tanned), the city starts coming back to life, store displays are adjusting to the new season—it just feels like a time of new beginnings, very similar to the New Year or the arrival of spring. So much so that you are constantly wished a bonne rentrée, a happy return—to your normal routine, or perhaps to reality.

Anyway. The school does not have a proper uniform, but kids must use only the approved colors: blue, white, and grey; blue jeans are allowed. Little ID cards travel in their back packs every day.

Walking to the school took us ten minutes. They had sent us little cards for each child to identify which classroom to go to. We walked up to the second floor and through a narrow hallway that creaks with every step. It's an old building; the classrooms are tiny. They hold 15 kids per class, most of them international students whose parents want them to learn French or French kids returning to France who want to go through a transition into the French system.

First we met Madame Zwillanger, the 2nd grade teacher, who had a bienvenue sign hanging across the room. A nice touch, no matter how low tech it was. Madame Gross, the 3rd grade teacher, used a computer and a projector.

It's at this very instant that we wonder if this was the right thing to do, to put the children through such a big change just because we wanted to live in Paris. Perhaps they wonder the same. With heavy hearts, we said our good-byes and left, not looking back.

School ends at 4 o'clock, and parents wait with anticipation till the doors open and teachers and their students start appearing. First Madame Gross and Andrea, then the twins. Everyone must shake hands with their teacher before being released. How great that they also teach good manners.

And just like that, the first day is over, as are our fears and doubts. Everyone looks happy and reports having had a good day. And then, to Parc Monceau.