Welcome to French Nationality Ceremony

I went to my Welcome to French Nationality ceremony today!

I had been looking forward to this for so long! It was the final step in my path to becoming French - It was definitely moving. And now I'm having a hard time writing about it. Well, here goes!

Jumping right to the chase, here I am, receiving my "livret de nationalité," my nationality book - it's a folder with my declaration of nationality, a letter of welcome from President Macron, and copies of the constitution, the rights of man, and the charter of rights and responsibilities. And the words to La Marseillaise.

How it went:

The entire process was from 1:45 to 4pm. I decided to take the train, which I hadn't done in a loooong time (2-3 years?). I had forgotten some things, and *other* things had changed! So, I had a little added anxiety, but nothing serious 😏.

I had plenty of time, so I even got in a little art supply shopping! I arrived at the préfecture gate a little too early, so I walked around for a bit. I soaked up the city - it seems like every other trip to Montpellier had been a chore; now? Well, a bit of a chore, since there's an appointment, but mainly it's... a completion, a celebration even!

Back at the gate, I showed my invitation, and a whole bunch of us were brought in - first one waiting area, then another (and another LOL). Somewhere in the middle, I signed my declaration, gave my statement that I wanted to keep my US nationality, and turned in my titre de séjour (residence permit). I actually had a little problem writing! My hand was shaking! We eventually went up these stairs to the celebration room.

There were refreshment set out for later, and a video about France and being French was showing on a screen. There were a few officials (with medals!) waiting - no one approached them (I thought how great it would be to go up to one and chat. Hah!)

At 3pm, the video finished, and even more officials arrived (uniforms and sashes!). Then, Thierry Laurent, secrétaire général de la préfecture de l'Hérault, in full uniform, stepped to the podium. He gave a speech about the values of France, and how we are now a part of that.

He stepped away from the microphone, and we all joined him in singing the national anthem, La Marseillaise (remember, we haven't yet received our livrets, with that handy-dandy piece of paper with the lyrics! We were glad we had masks on! 🤪).

Then (!), they started passing out the livrets de nationalité - there were about 30 of us, and each town had a representative to help welcome its new citizens. They went by towns (and Sète was last, and there were 3 of us!). Each person went to the front when his name was called, shook hands with the officials, then received the livret, and had a chance to get a photo. There wasn't a lot of chit-chat, just a private sentence or two, but very friendly.

Once everyone had the livret, they rearranged a bit, and anyone who wanted another photo could get one. I snuck in for another "Marianne et moi" (here's my first one, in Costa Rica)

I had my photo including the citizen representative from Sète (in the sash).

Things segued into refreshments, and wound down.

This section of the préfecture building is much more elaborate and ceremonial (how appropriate!) than the more modern business area. I figured this might be my only chance to see it (and share it, of course!)

I was walking back to the train by 4 - I felt like a tourist, but with such a beautiful day, I had to take a few quick snaps...

I was relaxing on the train, just coming into Sète, and I saw the masts of the ships docked in the port - I suddenly had the strongest feeling of coming home...

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Here's the entire saga, with links to posts for individual steps.

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

My Chore Today

Guess what I did today! Here's a hint...

And another

Yep - I replaced our wall heater! The old one was reeeeally old, and not very efficient. The new one... is new; we'll see just how efficient 😏. (And my word! It's also very heavy!)

Interesting note: landlords in France have to provide heating, but there's no requirement for type or efficiency. So, as renters, we made a little investment in our comfort, and hopefully also our electric bills.

Stuffed Pork Loin Roast

My supermarket had a deal on pork the other day - it was a big package of 2 different cuts, one type that is perfect for couscous or stew, and another that is better as a steak. I didn't really want pork steaks, and we prefer a slow-cook dish, so... I de-boned and cleaned up the meat, freezing the couscous cuts. 

Now, what to do with the others? An experiment, of course! 

It turned out great! It has just the right amount of bite, and a nice combination of flavors!

Stuffed Pork Loin Roast

Cook in olive oil:

1/4 cup chopped bacon (allumettes fumées)

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

Add, and cook till golden, ~5 minutes:

1/4 cup chopped unsalted nuts (hazelnuts)

Remove from heat and stir in:

3-4 chopped figs

1/2 Antilles pepper (or other hot chile), finely sliced

3/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup chopped fresh herb (I used frozen celery leaves)

1 tsp dried thyme

Spread stuffing between 8 slices of pork, then tie as a roast. Coat with a glaze:

Orange marmalade

Powdered ginger

Olive oil

Sprinkle with Sea salt.

Place in baking pan and surround with mushrooms.

Preheat oven to 230°C. Add the roast and lower the temperature.

Bake at 200°C for 1 hr.

Serve with roasted potatoes and green beans.

Sunday Drive?

It's a sunny Sunday, so we decided to drive to St. Guilhem le Désert, a village that is one of the designated "prettiest villages in France." It's been on our list for quite a while!

Well...

About half way there, I noticed a warning light on the dashboard! We pulled over to a wide spot, hazard lights on, and dug around for the owner's manual (no, the image is not obvious...) We finally determined that it was saying we had low tire pressure - Rick walked around to check it out; nothing obvious, but we didn't want to take a chance. He looked up a nearby service station on the GPS, and we took off for it. Have I mentioned before that the GPS would be right at home in the garage can?

We finally found a place (not on the list), and took care of the tires. By then, we're both more stressed than a relaxing drive in the country could account for, so we head for the forest park near home. No more problems... Except of course, it's a sunny Sunday. The parking lot is jammed! We hung out in the car for a bit, then took a newly vacated spot 🙂 Life is good again! 

We strolled around through the woods, found a shady bench, and had our (fairly late) lunch. Some more strolling, then back home to relax!

Pierres Blanches, not St. Guilhem

My Shiny New Passeport !

My new *French* passeport (passport 🙂), *and* French ID card arrived! 

I had a nice walk down to the Mairie (Town Hall, Mayor's office), and walked out again 10 minutes later, solid gold documents in hand!

They kept me up-to-date via text messages, so there was *zero* stress for this all-important aspect of French bureaucracy 🙂.

Now to start planning all those trips...

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The entire nationality saga, beginning to end: https://slowtravelin.blogspot.com/2020/01/julies-french-nationality.html