Thankful for a Carte de Sejour (Resident Permit) in Paris!

The morning started with a taxi ride to the local "Prefecture" (local authorities) where the last process of "Renewal of authorisation to stay" in France began.

Taxi Ride to renew Visa

almost there...

Although I had an appointed time of 12 noon, arriving 45 minutes early was enough extra time to calm my nerves and realize that my French was "good enough" to get through the reception and sign-in process.

Twenty-five minutes after signing in and sitting in the large modern waiting room, the announcement: "Mademoiselle Florence, guichet dix (window 10)." was understood perfectly.

At window 10 I presented the following 5 Items: Copies of my Passport Photo and Visa pages, 4 Black and White head shot photos, a copy of my electric bill, a bank statement, birth certificate and translation.

In just under 2 hours, the process was successfully completed with the woman at window 10 explaining in broken English, the actual resident permit card would be ready for pick up near the end of January 2012.
Voila! Success!

Temporary French Resident Permit

"It's beginning to look alot like Christmas"

To make the afternoon even better, more signs of Christmas was a nice surprise at the end of my walk to La Defense. I will be sure to return when this Christmas village open! I can hardly wait. 

To top it all off, it was nice to take a break and make a toast with a friend among swanky Parisian surroundings.

A Wonderful Day!

Ah, a new life begins again in Paris...

Can you guess what I'll be thankful for on Thanksgiving, next week?