Yesterday we got an e-mail from our banker saying he needs proof of my maiden name. Even though I have no incentive to lie about it and it has no bearing on my bank-worthiness, I complied. His previous request was for a copy of our landlord’s passport. What’s next: proof of our landlord’s maiden name?
Meanwhile, the person handling our carte de sejour application (which will allow us to leave the country and return after our three-month visa expires) needs an electric bill in our name. A letter from our landlord stating that we pay the electric bills in his name is insufficient. That was yesterday. We’ll see what new request surfaces today.
Our experience seems typical. One of our friends, who lived last year in the apartment we’re renting now, explained, “As many people told us, French bureaucrats usually start any discussion with ‘Non, pas possible.’ But after some suitable persuading, they eventually change their tune.”
Which brings me to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a remarkably relevant satire, which I am in the middle of reading to Ella. When Elizabeth Bennet refuses the marriage proposal proferred by Mr. Collins, he replies, “It is usual with elegant young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time. I am therefore by no means discouraged by what you have just said, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.”
So the French will keep saying no, but we’ll realize they mean yes? We will probably first be turned down a second or even a third time. But we will get that carte de sejour.
I like to imagine the French bureaucrats in the guise of Marianne, the woman who, in paintings and sculptures, represents France itself. Marianne, you coquette! We will lead you to the altar, ere long.
what do you suppose they DO with all the information they extract from people? I am trying to figure out what they could possibly need it for. Your landlord’s passport? your banker needs this? I imagine that the carte de sejour people want to prove that it is really you living in the apartment, not some other foreigner. And yes, they will want other proof, I bet. Do the locals who rent apartments to each other also have to go through this rigamarole? Mon Dieu! Tricia
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