On Other Fronts

The Crepes
I tried to make crepes for the first time yesterday. I used Odile's recipe. After a few attempts, I got them to be relatively thin. Not like hers, but good enough for my first attempt. It really messed up the kitchen. It was hot standing over the pan. I now really appreciate a good crepe. Making them is quite an art.

The Carte de Sejour
Today was supposed to be the final appointment for our Carte de Sejour.

This would allow us to stay in France legally beyond the 90 days allowed to tourists. Of course, there are ways to get around the 90 days (like leave the country) but we want to follow the rules.

We have had four or five appointments already to get to this point. We brought about ten pounds of paperwork with us, including three copies of nearly every legal document we own. They gave us a list of what they needed.

When we got to the prefecture, the receptionist handed us each a folder and told us to put all our paperwork into this folder. Then she gave us each a number: 003 and 004 (we were early). So, we had to pull all our files apart to take out the paperwork they wanted in the folders. We were madly going through our files, re-filing when they must have called our number. We didn't hear it, we were so focused on re-filing the paperwork according to the new set of demands.

Finally, the receptionist caught our attention, telling us that they had called our number. So, we grabbed everything, half done (re-done) and went to our station (a small cubicle). The woman proceeded to yell at us and tell us that she had already voided 003 because she called the number three times and no one came. We finally got past that one.

But, the tone of the meeting had been set (negative). She proceeds to go through our folders, asks a few questions. We provide her with what she wants. Then, she tells us to go back and sit in the waiting room until she calls us again.

A long time goes by. No call.

I move closer to where she should be calling us, to make sure we don't miss the call. Other people know the drill, too. Everyone is gathered around the entrance to the cubicles. Finally, she calls us in a small, high voice, we barely hear her.

We go back in. She tells us to sign some forms that she has put together that have all our vital info and our photos (within a black box, in black ink only on both sides of the form) and we should hear from the Prefecture de Police regarding their decision (whether to give us the "carte" or not) within two months.

To make a long story short, it seems that we will probably be turned down on a technicality (that we left the country before getting the carte). If that is the case, we have to completely re-apply for the original Visa at the French Consulate in LA. Before we do this, we need to renew our passports, since they expire in 2009 and the Visa is affixed to the passport. AARGH!