French word of the day: Emploi du temps
Published: Sept 24, 2026
As any French person with kids knows, the start of the New Year isn’t January 1st, but rather September 1st. Also known in France as the rentrée!
Sadly there are no fireworks or champagne, only a boatload of school forms and extracurricular activities to navigate, as well as a stack of work stuff everyone put off over the summer. Boo-urns.
We got off to a bit of a confused start this school year because my oldest is now in middle school. In France, like in North America, middle school involves changing from having 1 teacher all day long to having multiple teachers, with the entire class moving from one classroom to another like a large troupeau de moutons (“flock of sheep” in English).
But the real question that was befuddling us was that for the first couple of weeks we simply could not figure out what was l’emploi du temps (“timetable” in English). And more specifically the school’s ‘doors open’ schedule.
It seemed that if class started at 8:25, but you arrived at 8:24 you would be late. Apparently you had to be there at 8:20, but it maybe wasn’t a hard 8:20 because there is no bell ringing and the school gates were not closed. In addition, on the school website it looked oddly like that 8:20 was the time the door was opening, not closing.
When I was in school, I remember having a pre-warning bell, and then the actual bell so even without a watch, you kinda knew where you ought to be. Did my kid need an Apple smartwatch to know exactly what time to arrive, in order to thread the needle?
In addition, the timetable involved 2 days of classes starting in the morning at random times, for which it was not written when to arrive. The official time the doors actually opened (i.e 8am, 9am, etc.) didn’t seem to be noted down anywhere. I am the sort to arrive at the airport for a flight 3+ hours in advance, so this sort of confusion is really not my cup of tea.
We muddled around by car for a good 2 weeks in drop-off bewilderment, before finally realizing the hours of the ‘doors opening and closing‘ were not on the school website or outlined in the various school-parent meetings, but rather on piece of paper I had hastily signed on the 1st day amongst all the other papers. Right then.
In my defence, I will also add that this morning at 8:21am it looked like the doors were still open, and none of the kids outside seemed to be overly concerned.
With the timetable mostly sorted (it has already randomly changed 3 times, none of it our doing), it was time to tackle all everything else.
And there’s a lot of other stuff going on in France at the moment. Last weekend was Journées du Patrimoine, aka Heritage days, where many a museum (whose name does not begin with Louvre) is open for free.
But the big star in town is my fellow countrywoman, Celine Dion, who is currently singing her heart out at several concerts in Paris. Ensuite, the Pope is arriving tomorrow (Sept 25th), we presume not to attend Paris Fashion week which starts Sept 28th, nor the Horse racing at Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe which starts on October 3rd.
If you are coming to any of these, check the metro lines and street closures because security will be high. Personally, I presume we won’t make any of these since we do have school the next day.
In other news:
- The U.S. State Department has kindly donated €202k for the restoration of historic Château de La fayette in Haute-Loire. The move is in recognition of the Marquis de La Fayette, the French hero of the American War of Independence. (Good to know: the name is spelt La Fayette in French, but Lafayette in English. If you have a similar name and you decide to live in France, do not do this to your name. The wrath of French administration and paperesse will tie you and your descendants into a thousand knots.)
- Not quite learnt their lesson after the Louvre incident, 2 paintings have been stolen from the Renoir museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer at an estimated loss at 9 million euros. (The stolen jewellery from the Louvre remains missing.)
- President Macron and other government officials made a grand announcement about a new large Dragonball theme park, at an investment of €6 billion to be built just outside Paris. However, this all came crashing down a few days later when the Japanese studio that owns the license clarified that it has never given its approval for such a project in France.
And in the blog:
The Perfect Paris itinerary: How many days do you really need?
Discover how many days you really need for sightseeing, food, museums, and day trips in and around Paris. Plus tips for first-timers and families.
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