You and your four children are "convoqués" (summoned) to go to La Préfecture, aka The Place Hopes and Dreams Go To Die, aka the regional administrative center that takes care of everything from visas to driver's licenses to immigration. This summons to pick up DCEM cards that allow the children to re-enter France if they leave the country.
On the way there, the tram stops en route. You hear an announcement that there has been an accident and that the tram will be delayed. This is repeated several times. Each time the announcement comes back on, more people get off. One of the announcements says that there was an accident with a scooter (probably an electric scooter) and that EMS is on the way.
You consider walking the rest of the way, but it's still 40 minutes on foot on a non-pedestrian-friendly route.
Finally the tram starts again.
You arrive at the Préfecture and there is a massive line--nothing new, but still depressing every time. Your children are tired and bored and bonus, they also feel sick and a bit nauseated! Yay!
After an hour and a half of shuffling up to the front of the line, you finally reach the guichet. You hand all of the required papers over to the woman on the other side of the bulletproof glass. You've carefully triple-checked that you have everything on the convocation (appointment papers). You do.
The woman asks, "Where are the old DCEM cards?"
"I didn't bring them because they expired several years ago and it didn't say to bring them. It says right here on the list what to bring and that wasn't on the list."
"But you should have known that you have to bring the old ones."
(Note: unlike your convocation for renewing your own visa, which DOES clearly state to bring the old ones, the kids' convocation never states that anywhere.)
You realize it's fruitless to keep pointing this out because after all, Guichet Lady has all the power. But the problem is that you must pick up these papers today because it's the last day they can be picked up before you leave.
She tells you that you can come back this afternoon with the required documents. of course, this means that you have to cancel at least one, maybe two, medical apppointments that your children have.
You leave the clerk's window and agree to let your children pick a few treats from the vending machines. You put in the coins, choose the number, and the spiral things untwist...and then get stuck. Your snack is stuck hanging over the edge but not quite falling down. You try rattling the machine. You try insering more money and choosing the same snack to nudge it down...but the machine now says "out of order." You try another snack: "out of order." You manage to get some other snacks and drinks but punch in the wrong number for one of the drinks and your oldest child is disappointed.
You ride the tram all the way back home--of course there are no seats available when you get on, even though it's the first stop on the line.
You eat a quick lunch, manage to sneak in one of the kid's medical appointments where you hear about all of the side effects of a proposed medication: dry skin, dry eyes, fragile skin, joint pain, cholesterol problems, depression, suicidal ideation. You and your child nope out on that medication.
You drive all the way back to the Préfecture (yes, you take the car this time becuase you'd rather spend 1 Euro on parking than 12 Euros on tram tickets). You get the darn cards--which ironically are just printed pieces of paper now that you can download and print from your government account...so WHY are we going all the way there to pick them up in person?
You and your children agree: This is definitely The Bad Place.
(A photo from when we thought we were still in The Medium Place)
~~~
Fortunately, we escaped The Bad Place ended once we got back home a second time. Everyone but Zari went swimming. The wind and waves picked up just as we arrived, so the kids were loving it. Also no jellyfish.
Eric and I had another consultation with a different immigration lawyer who told us 100% opposite of what the first one said. Now we are doubly confused because aren't these supposed to be the experts? But they are saying contradicting things.
Zari had another MRI of her knee, just local this time instead of in Monaco.
Bastille Day fireworks went off tonight--since the terrorist attack, they have been held on the 13th instead of the 14th. Eric and Zari hopped out to see them once they had started. The rest of us saw a teeny bit by leaning our heads outside the window and looking over the rooftops.
(Also a photo of the 3 kids who are now sleeping in the living room)
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