If you spend much time in French cities in August you may have noticed that they are pretty empty - many of the smaller independent shops will be closed and if you're emailing anyone about a work-related or official matter don't be surprised to get an auto-reply informing you that they are out of the office until September.

If you're a politics fan you will notice that the French parliament is not sitting and there isn't much in the way of official business is done. This year has been slightly different because of the health crisis, but in his press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex thought it worth mentioning that "as the virus, the French government has not been on holiday".

He might not have been on holiday, but President Emmanuel Macron did spend several weeks at Brégançon, the Riviera property that the French state provides so that presidents can take summer holidays by the sea.

And because the long August holiday is such an embedded tradition in French life, the return in September is a big deal.

Here are some of the things that la rentrée means and why it defies an easy translation into English;

Schools restart

If you work in an office, the first few days after la rentrée is often a time for chatting to colleagues, hearing other people's holiday stories, and generally easing yourself back into work gently so it's not too much of a shock to the system.

Return to parliament 

The French parliament takes a break over the summer and resumes sessions in September and ministers too generally take a few weeks off.

This summer has been slightly different because of the ongoing health crisis, and there have been two meetings of the Defence Committee - one chaired remotely by Macron from his holiday home.

Generally, September sees governments prepare to present new legislation or reforms, and the French press generally run lists of what the government will be focusing on in la rentrée (this year it's a fairly short list - they will be mostly concentrating on COVID and the upcoming economic crash, which in fairness is enough to keep anyone occupied).

New books are published

There is also a phenomenon known as la rentrée litteraire, which is when hundreds of new books are published in the busiest part of the literary year

This is partly related to people coming back to work but is also linked to the fact that many of France's major literary prizes - including the Prix Goncourt, the Prix Renaudot, and the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française - are held in October and November. Publishers, therefore, release books that they believe have a chance at a prize in late August or September in the hope that they will be fresh in the judges' minds.

Summer activities end