In which we try to apply for our residency cards

The last time we were in France we were only here for about 12 weeks, and since Americans may spend 3 months in France without a visa, the kids and I didn't need to bother with them. Blaise needed a work visa because he was being paid as a researcher while we were here, but only a short term one. This time we're staying for a full year, which means that all 5 of us needed visas (Blaise, Cherry, and I flew to Chicago in mid May to obtain them) and Blaise and I need residency cards, called Cartes de Sejour.

We've heard that obtaining these cards can be a bit of a hassle, not so much because the government doesn't want to give them out, but because they want to make sure that you jump through the right series of hoops first. Since our visas officially expire in mid September and everything in France slows way down in July and even more so in August we decided to get the process underway. First we figured out what we needed: Passports and visas with photocopies of each; birth certificates and French translations, also photocopied; marriage certificate with translation and photocopy; 5 passport photos; stamped envelopes; proof of residence with photocopy; copy of Blaise's contract with photocopy. Fortunately we had know about the translations of the birth and marriage certificates ahead of time and had them translated at K-State. And we discovered that the printer/scanner at the apartment we're renting also functions as a copy machine, so that was taken care of. Cherry and I walked to the post office to get stamps while Ezio worked on Rosetta Stone and Sapphire played at her new friend's house. Then we bundled everything into a backpack, collected Sapphire, and headed off to the Auchan, where they have booths for taking ID pictures. (These booths are ubiquitous throughout Paris, appearing in nearly every super/hypermarche and train station. Evidently the French have great need of identification photos. They are also cheap, relatively, costing 5 Euros for 5 copies, which is much more cheaply than you can have it done in the US.)

Upon arrival at the Auchan, we discovered that the booths only took change and 5 Euro bills. I had one bill, which Blaise used while I went into the store to buy something and thereby break a 10. Pictures taken, we headed back to the apartment to pick up the directions (which I had forgotten) and promptly headed off the wrong direction. Eventually we got turned back the right way round, and 45 minutes of walking later found ourselves at the sous prefecture, 15 minutes before they closed for the day. The woman looked at our passports and Blaise's contract, and then told us we would have to return in 2 weeks for a meeting, which she dutifully recorded in her little book, and on our papers. So we get to return on August 6th. Hopefully the meeting will not involve too many questions in French.

Also, Sapphire learned how to do a cartwheel. Blanche (her friend) taught her how.