Car vs Sahara

So much for my clean car! 

Just a few days ago, I took the car in for it's annual checkup - it's 2 years old now, with - wait for it - 2,500 kilometers on the odometer! Still, it needed to be done to keep the warranty valid. 

I dropped it off at 2pm, and killed time around town. I hadn't been on a bus in nearly a year, and had forgotten some of my manners 😮. Well, they came back in time. When I pooped out, I went back early - they said it could take until 5:30! Definitely not like your drive-through garages in the states! At 4:30, they were power-washing all the bird droppings off - there's my beautiful, clean car!

That lasted a couple of days - then we got our rainstorm from Africa, and my car is *dripping* in sandy Saharan mud!

Pull?

LOL - I've been living in this apartment for over a year - they changed the method for exit (but not the door-direction, of course) - I completely forgot that it was pull - stood there like an idiot while the neighbor kid opened it 🙄

That Time of Year

It's that time of the year again...

For the last few days, we've both been plagued with headaches and itchy eyes - I checked, and sure enough, it's high allergy season 🙁

I love trees and flowers, but they don't love me!

https://www.pollens.fr/

Julie's French Nationality - Interviews

Julie's French Nationality - Interviews

There was good news in the mail today - I have an appointment with the préfecture to interview for my French nationality!

I submitted my request just over a year ago. Given the experiences of others, I expected a visit from the police, any time between August and the end of December. This is a normal part of the process, particularly for people like me, requesting it via marriage - they make a check to assure themselves that it's a real marriage. Yeah, for months and months, I got more and more anxious! Here it is, mid-February, and still no visit. Well, at least now we have a date for the préfecture's interview, and 2 months to prepare for it.

The letter came with a few relatively small surprises.

I expected that I would have to bring originals of my DELF language certificate and Rick's CNF. Since I sent copies, they would want to check them against the originals. I also expected to bring newer versions of our marriage certificate and rent receipts. But their list was a bit different! Yes, they want our latest rent receipt. But then, they also want a copy of Rick's ID, and copies of the last 4 years of our taxes. Nothing else! Well, those are easy to get. And I'm definitely taking all the other stuff too!

One interesting twist - due to covid, any document that we expect to give them must not have been touched for at least 48 hours before the appointment, and must be in a plastic pouch when we give it to them. It does add an extra element of planning!

~~~

My post on my dossier is here:

http://slowtravelin.blogspot.com/2020/01/julies-french-nationality.html

My timeline so far - Montpellier, via marriage:

January 31, 2020 - mailed dossier

March-May 2020 - préfecture closed due to covid

June 30, 2020 - accepted

February 9 - received mail with appointment in April. Note: no email or phone call, just my self-addressed stamped envelope that I had provided in my dossier.