Marriage In France

Well,
Marriage in France is definitely different from the US. There is no Vegas, and there is definitely no shortage of beaurocratic hell... First I should say, Valerie and I were rushed into getting married. We have been together for almost 4 and half years but neither of us were ready to take the plunge. Not saying by any means that we don't love each other, it is to say marriage wasn't a high priority.

Prefecture Fun
To begin, I received a job offer from a company here in France. They have given me a contract stating I must start by the end of February. However, I cannot work with out having a Carte de Sejour (green card in france). The funny thing is, that originally we thought we could get this carte de sejour by applying for the PACs. In a simple breakdown the PACs allows partners to avoid being married and it is offered very quickly. However, after obtaining this document and going to the Prefecture for the 10th time which I might add the guy remembers me everytime since I am one of the very few white persons that go there, we were told I would need to live on french soil for 1 year before they would give me my carte de sejour.

Prefecture, Marie and Embassy
Well, the next option was for me to give up this job offer or to get married. The funny thing about the Prefecture is that, no one ever tells you the same thing. One person may say you can get your papers tomorrow while another may say it will take 3 months. The best thing to do is to stay calm otherwise it may take years! I must also add, Valerie has been great with these people. Everytime she talks to them the situation seems to get better. What would I do with out her!!
So for a marriage there are two separate departments you need to deal with (actually 3 if you include the US embassy). First you need to go to the Marie (city hall) to get a file of all the things you must do prior to the wedding. Then after the wedding you need to apply at the Prefecture (AGAIN) for a carte de sejour. At the Marie you receive a dossier (file) with about 10 different things to bring back filled out perfectly or else they send you home which I learned hard way. Also, you must publicise your marriage. Which is just plain stupid!! You pay something like 20 euros for a small advertisement stating who is getting married. Basically this advertisement is placed on the wall at the Marie so that if someone objects to the marriage they can state it at the Marie. Pretty funny, since no one really ever sees these ads. Next, I (being foreign) must go to the embassy and get an Attestation of Marriage and another obscure paper stating that I am single and haven't been married. Needless, to say they aren't free. Then , once all is filled out your return to the Marie. Well I returned alone to hand in the info. Apparently, on the first attempt I had not filled out the date in the correct order so they sent me to back to the embassy. On the second attempt all was good but Valerie didn't accompany me. You would think the the people who now practically know by name would have told me the first time that Valerie must come with me. But they didn't. So, as they say, the 3rd time is the charm.
C'est la vie en france!!!

Wedding Day
The day of the wedding was comical. Valerie's cousin and a good friend of ours who Valerie met in the US attended with us. First off, we have a very small apartment and having 4 people is not easy. Valerie slepted on the futon with Bettina and I drew the lucky straw to sleep the night before the wedding in the same bed with Val's cousin, Laurent who I might add snores about as loud as a freight train. Sleeping was out of the question. We started the morning off knowing our wedding was at 2:30 pm. So we decided to have lunch at a restaurant on the beach. I think it was about 2pm when we realized we had a wedding in 30 minutes. Normally it takes 15-20 minutes to get home from the beach. I think I cut that in half. We dressed in 5 minutes and made it to the Marie where the wedding was to take place with about 3 minutes to spare.
The wedding lasted all of about 10 minutes. Pretty crazy seeing we had to practically dress in the car. The assistant of the marie (mayor) did the ceremony. During the ceremony we signed the contract of marriage and then exchanged rings and of course the cermonial kiss. The room was rather empty since there were only 4 of us but it didn't really matter. We loved it just the same. We even took a picture with me standing in front of a picture of my new president (Jacque Chirac) to finish off the ceremony. I am getting all teary eyed now.......hahha
After the ceremony we went to centre ville (downtown) to our hotel which Val booked for the 4 of us. We arrived in our room to a bottle of champagne and a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent from my parents. Of course, we indulged as quickly as possible to drink the champagne. Soon after we walked a few short blocks to the La Part des Anges (bar of angels). This is a great little wine bar with a sort of tuscan atmosphere where the walls are filled with beautiful paintings all available for a small fortune. We met up with about 10 of our new friends and celebrated the night away!!!!!

Back To The Marie and Prefecture
The following Monday we returned to the Marie to pick up our official contract of marriage which is pretty cool looking and then on to the Prefecture to drop off my application for the carte de sejour. Everything flowed smoothly for a change. At this point I am checking the mail box religiously everyday in hopes that the carte de sejour has arrived. I still have 3 more weeks of February to stress out before my work contract is up. Cross your fingers for me!!!

A bientot!!!