La rentrée roughly translates to "the coming in" or "the re-entry." In France, it marks the end of les vacances, the languid July-August period when nearly all small businesses close for at least a week or two (some take a whole month off). ~www.examiner.com
"A la rentrée!"--along with "Bonnes vacances!", it's the last phrase on everyone's lips as they head joyfully off on long July and August vacations. It means "(see you) at the return" or more literally, the re-entry, as I like to think of it. Because after the famously long French vacation (5 weeks per year mandatory, most of it taken in late summer), you've been away so long that you do feel like you're re-entering--like astronauts re-entering the earth's atmosphere after orbiting around in space. Re-entering the world you left behind after what seems like eons of days that you experienced in the slow-motion time warp of vacation. And from a distance that often seems as great as that to the moon, if you've spent those weeks in a very different culture or perhaps halfway around the globe. ~ www.frenchgardening.com
In August, major sectors of France slow down or close up shop completely. School is out, of course, the government is more or less AWOL, and many restaurants and other businesses are closed as well. Therefore, many French people are on vacation for all or part of the month, which means that la rentrée, in September, is more than just students and teachers going back to school; it's also everyone else returning home and going back to work, returning to normalcy.
À la rentrée ! is a valediction, similar to bonnes vacances ! (have a nice vacation), a way of saying good-bye and an acknowledgement that you'll see the other person when you both re-enter the real world after your prolonged vacation. ~www.about.com
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