OFFICIAL AT LAST!!!

Little by little, step by step, we are becoming Parisians.  Nearly six months ago we began the official process of moving to Paris when we met with the French Consulate in Houston to obtain a long-term visa.  Though we had heard horror stories about this process, we found it to be a piece of cake.  Since we've been here, we've spoken to others who did have terrible experiences at the French Consulates in their home states.  Visa application - check!  As you know, our visa got lost in the US mail, but we retrieved it in January from our local post office.  Visa - check!!

Once we got here and were pretty settled, we knew the next thing we needed to take care of was getting our Carte de Sejour, the residence card.  I think the main purpose of this card is to prove our right to be here longer than 90 days without carrying around our passports.

Yet another official stop!

So yesterday we arrived at the OFII for our 3:00 appointment with all our necessary papers intact.  As you do in similar situations in the US, we sat in a room of people waiting for our names to be called.  Honestly, this was also an easy experience for us.  They called our names, we went to the desk, they asked for such-and-such papers, they stamped our passports and said "Au revoir".  And we were out!!!   Carte de Sejour - check!!

The final thing we have to take care of is going to be a little more difficult, I'm afraid.  It's our health insurance.  As has been the case with several of these things, no one seems to really know what we need or how we can obtain it.  So we (by "we" I mean "David"!!!!) research it and figure it out on our own!!!  I know this is something I talked about before we left based on things I'd read.  I'm not sure if all I'd read was completely accurate...once we have this final piece in place, I'll let you know what the healthcare looks like here.

Tomorrow is cleaning day!!!!!  And then....some fun!!!