It's la Rentrée back to school, to work and a load of upcoming exhibitions in Paris.

La Rentrée, the back to school and work after summer vacation, jumped into full swing last week. It's the same craziness year after year: August is a full month of accomplishing nothing and then on September 1, everything that didn't get done during August, or since late May when vacation unofficially starts, must be checked off the to-do list with lightening speed. It's like going from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye and all that stress that melted away on the beaches returns in a flash, with too much to do and too little time. Don't go near the stationary departments in Monoprix or BHV unless you want to be trampled by kids and parents buying up their supplies for the school year. They get a list of MUST HAVES and it's required! My friend suggests taking the path of least resistance and ending up in a little "papeterie" (stationary shop) down the street. Things have changed a bit since the advent of the computer, but not by much. The French still love their "fournitures scolaires" (school supplies) as much as ever supporting an almost 500 million euro market. Meanwhile, as life begins again in a more normal pace after the surge of urgency to make up for all that lost time, this is the finest time of year to visit Paris with too (!) many new exhibitions opening this month (and too little time). I'll be there in November and can't wait to feast on the exhibitions below. Here are just a few that open this month!

René Magritte. La Trahison des Images (The Treachery of Images) from 21 September 2016 to 23 January 2017 Centre Pompidou - Place Georges Pompidou, Paris

Joann Sfar - Salvador Dalí, One Second Before Awakening from 09 September 2016 to 31 March 2017 Espace Dalí - 11 rue Poulbot, Paris

Edme Bouchardon, De sanguine et de marbre from 16 September 2016 to 05 December 2016 Musée du Louvre - Musée du Louvre, Paris

My MUST Oscar Wilde, l’impertinent absolu from 28 September 2016 to 25 January 2017 Petit Palais - Musée des Beaux Arts de la ville de Paris - Avenue Winston Churchill, Paris Homage to one of the most famous Francophile writers in English

Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) from 14 September 2016 to 12 February 2017 Musée du Luxembourg - 19 rue de Vaugirard, Paris An exhibition dedicated to the French realist painter Henri-Fanti Latour

European Heritage Days from 17 September 2016 to 18 September 2016 Tout Paris - Paris Discover or rediscover Parisian museums and monuments and government buildings open ONLY once a year over one weekend - do it!

Hodler Monet Munch from 15 September 2016 to 22 January 2017 Musée Marmottan Monet - 2 rue Louis Boilly, Paris Three of the greatest painters of the 19th century in one exhibition!

Hergé the originator of Tintin from 28 September 2016 to 15 January 2017 Grand Palais - Avenue Winston Churchill, Paris The Grand Palais pays tribute to the father of the European comic-strip

The Spectacular Second Empire, 1852-1870 from 27 September 2016 to 16 January 2017 Musée d'Orsay - 1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, Paris

Rembrandt Intime from 16 September 2016 to 23 January 2017 Musée Jacquemart-André - 158 boulevard Haussmann, Paris Cara - Tuesday