Carte de séjour

We needed to make an important trip to Troyes today, as we had been invited to go and review the documentation we had submitted for our carte de séjour renewal. Our CDS’s (carte des séjours) were actually out of date, even though we had submitted them within the timeframe they had advised on the government website—not before 2 months of expiry—but their response was slow, so we were put in a position where we had to travel to the UK on expired cards; never a good thing. Fortunately for us I think this is quite common at the moment, as when we returned at the Chunnel border a mere shrug of the shoulders, and a French style ‘puff’ of air through the lips from Brian seemed to be enough for the border patrol man to wave us through. How useful a bit of cultural observation can be.

We arrived just before 8.30am at the prefecture in Troyes, and were first in line.

We soon found ourselves chatting with the clerks to complete the required paperwork, mainly signing a temporary CDS and having our finger prints taken again. They were extremely friendly, and although my lady had a little difficulty with the equipment to scan my fingerprints, the whole process was over in about 15 minutes, and we are now the proud owners of 2 temporary CDS. They are only needed whilst our new cards are created, which can take a few months apparently.

All done, we nipped for a coffee, then a trip to the bakers, before heading home for lunch with Lauren and Max. We had left them sorting out some jobs they wanted to do on their van.

This is me cuddling my warm bread.