Good News on the Carte de Sejour

We've had to go back through the whole process again. Including getting new passports as the first step, since they were expiring.

Cost for the passports: $150

I made an appointment on-line with the French Consulate in LA then started collecting all the paperwork.

Free

We had to have photos taken. They are so cheap in France, they have booths on the street and in many metro stations to take passport photos, but here we had to go to a postal store. But, they look a little better than the ones from the booth, so that's some compensation.

4 photos $38

We had to get letters from the City of Manhattan Beach attesting to the fact that we have no police record.

Police clearance letters $270

Then, I had to compile tons of paperwork. Since we have a copier, I haven't included the cost, but I've made several hundred copies of the various required paperwork.

The requirement for copies differs with each item, so I made three of everything just to be safe.

We also need proof of health insurance in France. US health insurance and Medicare don't pay for medical costs in France. So I bought health insurance for the duration of our next trip, so we could have the proof of insurance.

Health Insurance $955

Then, we had the filing fee.

Filing fee for "dossier" $310

So, the cost to date for this little activity is $1723

We've learned our lesson, though and had every piece of paper ready. It seems like they always ask for something different. This time, they didn't want our birth certificates or marriage license.

Our only snag in the whole day was that some of the printouts from the on-line bank statements didn't have our name on them. We almost had to return with them the next day until I explained to the woman that there were enough statements with our names to make the financial guarantee. She seemed to buy this.

We were in the Consulate for two hours and had three appointments. With a lot of waiting time in between. I expected that they would send us away empty-handed, letting someone in a back office make the final determination at a later date (or after lunch), but on the third appointment, the man returned our passports with the new visas in them. So, we're set!

Look out Prefecture, here we come again!

Grocery Shopping Etiquette and Procedures

Today as I was pushing a large cart loaded with provisions through my local Cost Co, I wished my French friends could see me now (glad they couldn’t, actually). I was wearing my gym clothes, a definite French no-no.

In the US, it’s true, our stores are super-sized, the portions are enormous and we buy in bulk. It’s easy to put it all in the back of the car and then into the garage until we need it. There are many bulky things, like toilet paper, paper towels and laundry soap that are always needed and it’s nice to have a supply.

The stores are so big and my car is so small compared with all the SUV’s, I sometimes forget where I’ve parked my car and have to walk up and down the aisles until I find it.

So, back to the etiquette of it all.

In the US as in France, each store or chain of stores has a little different feeling to it and different ways to handle things.

In France, for example, vegetables and fruit are handled differently in just about every store. My first regular grocery store in Paris was Champion on rue de Seine. Veggies and fruit are put into a bag (that part’s the same everywhere) and then you have to take the bags to a set of scales and weigh each bag. The scale produces a bar-coded tag that you have to put on the bag.

Thank goodness that in addition to the name of the item they had a photo of it, so I didn’t have to know all the words to buy things.

If you ever forget to put the sticker on the bag, you are sent scuttling back to the produce department with your bag while everyone else in line sneers at you.

The procedure is different at Monoprix, where you take the bags to a man who stands at the scales and weighs each item for you. After the man handles your bags, you have to make small talk with him or next time you come, he will ignore you. And, the procedure is different at the Franprix, where the cashier weighs it for you, just like in the US.

The biggest difference in the grocery store procedures has to do with the check out. In France, you have to bag your own groceries.

If you’re like me, using a chariot or wheeled cart, you have to put the heavy things (wine, water, juice, laundry soap) at the bottom of the cart. But, since I’ve been using the cart to collect the items, all the heaviest things start out on the bottom, hence they are the last out of the cart. The strategy here is to leave space at the front of the order and then put the heavy things there. Some checkers “get it” and put all the heavy things through first, some don’t.

So, the stress starts as you try to manage getting everything out of the cart at one end, putting it back in at the other end, without creating a big mess in the cart. You also have to pay.

There is usually a long line of people waiting for you, many with only two or three things. The GUILT! THE STRESS!

I’ve gotten over it by now.

There are stores in France that require a Euro to release the shopping cart from all the other carts. I guess this is to prevent theft. What happens if you don’t have a Euro! Tant pis! The checkers are very reluctant to give you change.

So, in the US, we need a special card for each store in order to get that store’s daily discount. For Cost Co, you can’t get in the door without the card. I’m sure all the stores use the cards to collect data about us, and one day it will all be published on the internet.

Here’s mine for today:
Wine 2 bottles
Chicken 2 packages
Zucchini .5 lb
Tomatoes .5 lb
Coffee 1 lb.

I wonder what they’ll do with this info, it’s not very revealing.

They have started arranging the US grocery stores a little differently. Now, they put all the snack food, alcohol, deli section in the front of the store and all the real food like meat, veggies, dairy in the very back of the store. Few people have to venture to the back when there’s the beer, chips, cheese and salami right there in front!

Of course, in the US, they still bag the groceries for us, but now they want us to bring our own bags. It's a good idea, but doesn't fit in with our car culture. I wonder why they don’t start selling carts like they have in France, it’s so much easier!

Oh, and the cashiers are friendly in the US!

Keeping WICE Alive

Wice has been a wonderful part of our lives in Paris. It is now threatened by lack of money as the Euro strengthens against the dollar and competition increases.

The French/English conversation groups have provided us with language experience, friendships and fun. At the end of the year, it will all be gone!

So, I've taken a little initiative. I wish I was in Paris, then I could really get into it. So far, I've located inexpensive rooms for rent in central Paris and a few people who are willing to help my cause. We'll see how it all plays out.

We're going to have to:
Communicate to everyone the new situation
Capture their names, phone numbers, email addresses
Locate the rooms and negotiate a deal
Determine the volunteers needed, how to collect money, etc

It's a big task, but it's worth it.