We dodged a bullet on Tuesday. Finally, after many appointments and forms and lines and months of waiting, Glenn was to report to the Prefecture de Police on the Ile de la Cite to receive his Titre de Sejour. This is the card that allows him to be here for the year. My appointment is next week, but Glenn wanted me to come along on his appointment just in case there were language issues I might be able to help with.
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| Iced tea |
We arrived at the prefecture at the appointed time, and there was an airport-style security screening. We waited in a short line until we were at the front. As is our custom, I had made iced tea for both of us that morning, and we were carrying our iced teas in large insulated cups. (This is not a very French thing to do, by the way.) The security screeners didn't know what to make of our iced teas. I told them what there were, and one took off the lid and peered inside. Puzzled, he decided that they should go through the x-ray machine with the bags and coats. He put them in a plastic bin, standing up, and put the bin on the conveyor belt. The heavy flaps covering the opening of the machine knocked the iced teas over, of course. I tried to explain: Ils sont tombes. But they were already in the machine and I guess there wasn't anything to do. Well, my iced tea didn't have a very secure lid and iced tea spilled all over the conveyor belt, the inside of the machine, and the floor. The screeners were flustered, running around looking for paper towels and trying to figure out what to do. By this time, what was left of our iced teas had emerged out of the other side of the machine. Glenn and I looked at each other, grabbed the cups, and decided to take advantage of the chaos to just continue on our way, before anyone decided to start yelling at us or to throw us out of the country permanently. We proceeded to the appropriate room, and Glenn was issued his Titre de Sejour.
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| Glenn, flaunting his Titre de Sejour |
I will not be taking a drink with me next week for my appointment. In addition, I'm wondering whether a disguise of some type would be warranted.
(Update: I avoided recognition and managed to obtain my Titre de Sejour as well---see below.)
Maybe the security people remember you as a couple and won't arrest you if you go back by yourself, Sara!
ReplyDeleteWow, a bunch of people have told me that they tried to comment on previous posts but couldn't do it. How did you manage? (Obviously, I'm not much of an expert on the technical aspects of blogs.)
ReplyDeleteI was wearing tennis clothes when I went with Glenn, so maybe just going by myself and wearing nicer street clothes will do the trick.