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...

~~~

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

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