I was in Ouistreham thursday night and very quiet with no problems in Caen that I heard of. I've been on a break for most of the week and away from the media, so have missed much of the goings on. If you don't watch the news you'll not be aware of anything different.
The rioting seems to be confined to large cities and 'les cités' around Paris and certain areas of high unemployment with a history of problems with police within those areas. These flare-ups are not uncommon in France during the hot months and setting fire to cars seems to be a summer sport with some sections of youth, although this seems to be on a bigger scale than usual. The media don't help by constantly focusing on the riots, but thankfully we don't have the British tabloids. I noticed the Mail yesterday referring to the original incident with "executed by the police".
I very much doubt you'll notice any difference whatsoever in rural France, I'm certainly not sensing it, but report back if you do 'feel' anything. Have a relaxing holiday.
