Eventful week
It has been an eventful week and hopefully one closer to knowing if we can stay in France for another 6 months! The week started with our finding a CD in our mailbox which was produced by our across the street neighbor, Eric. He is a jazz musician - trumpeter and his CD has been fun to listen to while driving, since we don't have a CD player in the house. He is very good and it was so nice of him to give us a CD!
On Tuesday, we ventured out to Quimper to the Prefecture office (on the river Odet which you can almost see in the photo) (internet photo below).
After waiting a several minutes, we were called into a nice gentleman's office. After finally getting across the fact that we were there as we were told by the French Embassy in Washington to extend our visa with the Prefecture, he explained to us that the Prefecture, at the moment, no longer makes the determination to extend a visa. For now, each Mairie in the town in which we live has been given this responsibility to collect items since Quimper is so large and not everyone has a car to drive to the Prefecture (........)
So, after that adventure, we decided it was time to get me an iPad 2 at the Espace Culturell L'Eclerc in Quimper. This has been a huge weight lifted off Tom's shoulders as we were competing with his Laptop to do large projects...which can now be done on the iPad! What an exciting toy and joyeux Noël Shirley! Upon arriving at the house, we checked the mailbox and voila! there was our letter from the OFII people (French office of immigration and integration) with the date and time of our appointment in Rennes......these are the people in the CAPITOL of Brittany who determine if we can stay LONGER than one year.....
So, Wednesday, we visited the Mairie in Nevez (4 km from our house) and spoke to the only person in the office who spoke enough English...we love to see people hand off that chore! So, Flo helped us by calling the Prefecture office to see what they wanted her to do (as she had NEVER heard of this new responsibility AND she sees so few Americans in Nevez! ....meaning none). She also tried calling (we think) the Embassy in Washington and did not get an answer, so we said we could come back later and she said yes, in a half hour. So, we walked around town and bought a baguette at the bakery and mailed some letters. We then walked back to the Mairie down the alley with the Men Zao in the sunshine!
After half an hour, we returned to the Mairie and Flo had not heard back, so she called again and after about a half hour, she finally reported to us what we needed to do. She said we needed to return next month with proof of income (which we already had), the documentation of the OFII, and visa/passports.
So, we will be praying for the next month for our visa approval (thanks cousin John for your prayers in the Caribbean while on your Lenten cruise/retreat in March!).
So, what comes first...the chicken or the egg? Looks like we might get our visa approved for another YEAR and then get it approved for another 6 MONTHS! Whatever happens, we are happy as clams in our new home in France! Yes, that analogy fits as the rain has continued to keep the ground damp and we are feeling the humidity...hopefully the rain will abate and return to normal Brittany weather...with only some rain....
Which brings us to another exciting future event: Wayne and Peggy from Denver are venturing to France to visit with us in early March! We will pick them up in Rennes and drive to Mount St. Michel, St. Malo, Dinan, and then to the north coast where we have never been. Then back to Kerdruc for a few days and then possibly, we'll meet them in Arles for a few days at the end of their trip! We are very excited to see them, as Wayne has not been to France since the 70's and Peggy not since the 90's and neither has been to Brittany! We also heard that cousin John (who travelled with us to Brittany a year ago) and my brother, Bruce, will visit in late March/early April! Wow, then brother Richard and sister-in-law Michelle will visit in the summer! So, start planning your trip to see us now....we do need some more Pace Picante Sauce!
Oh, almost forgot, while waiting for the Mairie to get information on our visa, we stopped at the Information Center and asked about French classes....yes, she knew of some and I called a lady who said come next Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. to L'Ecole St. Barbe in Nevez....so exciting days ahead!!!!!
On Tuesday, we ventured out to Quimper to the Prefecture office (on the river Odet which you can almost see in the photo) (internet photo below).
After waiting a several minutes, we were called into a nice gentleman's office. After finally getting across the fact that we were there as we were told by the French Embassy in Washington to extend our visa with the Prefecture, he explained to us that the Prefecture, at the moment, no longer makes the determination to extend a visa. For now, each Mairie in the town in which we live has been given this responsibility to collect items since Quimper is so large and not everyone has a car to drive to the Prefecture (........)
So, after that adventure, we decided it was time to get me an iPad 2 at the Espace Culturell L'Eclerc in Quimper. This has been a huge weight lifted off Tom's shoulders as we were competing with his Laptop to do large projects...which can now be done on the iPad! What an exciting toy and joyeux Noël Shirley! Upon arriving at the house, we checked the mailbox and voila! there was our letter from the OFII people (French office of immigration and integration) with the date and time of our appointment in Rennes......these are the people in the CAPITOL of Brittany who determine if we can stay LONGER than one year.....
So, Wednesday, we visited the Mairie in Nevez (4 km from our house) and spoke to the only person in the office who spoke enough English...we love to see people hand off that chore! So, Flo helped us by calling the Prefecture office to see what they wanted her to do (as she had NEVER heard of this new responsibility AND she sees so few Americans in Nevez! ....meaning none). She also tried calling (we think) the Embassy in Washington and did not get an answer, so we said we could come back later and she said yes, in a half hour. So, we walked around town and bought a baguette at the bakery and mailed some letters. We then walked back to the Mairie down the alley with the Men Zao in the sunshine!
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| Men Zao in Nevez (standing stone fence) from the internet |
After half an hour, we returned to the Mairie and Flo had not heard back, so she called again and after about a half hour, she finally reported to us what we needed to do. She said we needed to return next month with proof of income (which we already had), the documentation of the OFII, and visa/passports.
So, we will be praying for the next month for our visa approval (thanks cousin John for your prayers in the Caribbean while on your Lenten cruise/retreat in March!).
So, what comes first...the chicken or the egg? Looks like we might get our visa approved for another YEAR and then get it approved for another 6 MONTHS! Whatever happens, we are happy as clams in our new home in France! Yes, that analogy fits as the rain has continued to keep the ground damp and we are feeling the humidity...hopefully the rain will abate and return to normal Brittany weather...with only some rain....
Which brings us to another exciting future event: Wayne and Peggy from Denver are venturing to France to visit with us in early March! We will pick them up in Rennes and drive to Mount St. Michel, St. Malo, Dinan, and then to the north coast where we have never been. Then back to Kerdruc for a few days and then possibly, we'll meet them in Arles for a few days at the end of their trip! We are very excited to see them, as Wayne has not been to France since the 70's and Peggy not since the 90's and neither has been to Brittany! We also heard that cousin John (who travelled with us to Brittany a year ago) and my brother, Bruce, will visit in late March/early April! Wow, then brother Richard and sister-in-law Michelle will visit in the summer! So, start planning your trip to see us now....we do need some more Pace Picante Sauce!
Oh, almost forgot, while waiting for the Mairie to get information on our visa, we stopped at the Information Center and asked about French classes....yes, she knew of some and I called a lady who said come next Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. to L'Ecole St. Barbe in Nevez....so exciting days ahead!!!!!
What an exciting story! So straighten me out: if you get the one year visa and then the 6 month visa, does that add up to one and a half years, or does the 6 months run in parallel so that it adds up to one year? I'm sure hoping you get the longer time!
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