September 21-27, 2020. This is the first week that I didn’t have to rush every morning to get to Alliance Française for my daily four-hour language classes. I had intentionally not enrolled in the last week of the B1-level program because I wanted at least a week for some rest before my LL.M. (Master of Laws) international arbitration program commenced.
To make most of the free time, I had previously decided to take a leisure trip. The original destination I had in mind was Hamburg, to visit a good friend. But a month or so ago, Germany introduced stricter measures for all persons entering from France, which meant it was too cumbersome to make a visit. I would have had to isolate myself for two weeks upon arriving and that would have been too much trouble. Also, of course, if I only had a week to spare, there wouldn’t have been enough time to complete the two-week quarantine.
Thus, I decided to go somewhere within France instead, where there were no travel restrictions. Some weeks ago, the French domestic train network went on promotion to sell tickets at a bargain. Tickets were selling for as low as 10 euros one-way to select destinations. I was able to book roundtrip train tickets to Marseille and Rennes.
But before I get to that, let me tell you about my trip to the prefecture (administrative / police office) at the beginning of the week to submit my foreign resident visa requirements and finally being granted a “récépissé” or preliminary resident permit.
Finally getting my récépissé. I have probably recounted before that getting a rendez-vous (appointment) with the prefecture, which is the office that handles the renewal of resident visas for foreigners in France, was such a pain. Well, first you have to know that because of the pandemic, you can’t just show up at the prefecture without booking an appointment. Next, you have to know that booking an appointment at the prefecture’s website is such a game of luck. The slots only open on Mondays at around 9AM. I say “around” because it’s not precise. You just have to keep refreshing the webpage starting at 9AM until the slots appear and then fill up the forms as fast as you can, before the very few slots available run out. To cut the long story short, I was able to book a rendez-vous two weeks ago, scheduled for this Monday, September 21. By this date, my existing resident visa had already expired. But I was told I need not worry because holders of recently expired resident visas are given consideration because of the pandemic.
The prefecture in charge of handling applications from my place of residence is located in Antony, a suburb around 12 kilometers from the center of Paris, or around an hour by train from my place in Boulogne.
I had previously encountered an irritable female officer to handle my request the last time I had an appointment three weeks ago who quite literally just told me to go away and book another appointment because my documents were not in order. I had hoped I would not encounter her again but behold me, there she was.
I faced the challenge head on. As usual, she was in an unpleasant disposition and refused to show any sign of consideration even if I was clearly struggling with communicating. She spoke fast French all throughout but thanks to weeks of French classes, I knew better (but not perfectly) how to respond to her questions and demands. I wonder how non-French speakers have to deal with this unpleasant French bureaucracy! Anyway, after a few minutes of checking my documents, she finally provided me a récépissé or a temporary resident visa that would allow me to stay in France while they prepare my carte de séjour or foreign resident identification card.
I was so relieved upon receiving the resident visa. Because it was a very pleasant day, I took a walk inside the vast Parc Sceaux which was just nearby. I didn’t realize how beautiful the park was. I spent a little more than an hour just sitting under the shade of a tree reading a book (in French, as a means of practicing my reading comprehension). I also took a stroll around the quaint town center of Sceaux until later in the afternoon. I did some groceries, too, because I had thought of trying to make fried rice and other meals for the next few days.