It’s that time of year again in Paris, when the cool breeze and light rain announce the arrival of the back-to-school rush known as the ‘rentrée scolaire’.
Every year, I am mildly alarmed at the sight of small schoolchildren carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. I watch them lurching head-heavy down the pavement, burdened by large backpacks stuffed with textbooks and school supplies. I wonder how on earth their tiny frames can possibly carry such heavy loads.
They have no choice. A list of compulsory school supplies (called ‘fournitures scolaires’) is sent to French parents and published as an official decree on a government website. At the end of August, parents in France can be seen making mad dashes in supermarkets, their trolleys filled with tangled heaps of pens, pencils, notebooks and binders.
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Patrick Drury
