(France's President, Sarkozy and his music star wife, Carla Bruni
at their villa in the south of France near Le Lavandou)
The whistle has blown. School's out. The Tour de France, is starting, Paris is emptying tonight and France is taking off for the summer. That at least is the illusion that is lovingly maintained by the media and much of France. The news is leading with reports from the highways and resorts on the annual migration south and westwards. The sound of cicadas and clinking wine glasses replace political sound-bites as radio cultivates the idea that France is on holiday. It is not, of course. One third of the French take no leave at all and throughout the période estivale a majority of the people are at home and working. But it's pleasant to observe the tradition that life pauses in July and August. Business is put off until la rentrée -- the first week of September. Government offices work in slow motion and ministers manage to disappear for long breaks after July 14, the national holiday.
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