So you want to live in France?

While I worked as the director of a private American association in a reasonably large French city, I received a fair number of unsolicited CVs. The cover letters would nearly always include some variant on the line, "I've always dreamed of living and working in France." — To which I would mentally reply, "Good luck to that." (I was never quite so brusque with my actual replies.)

However, the thought has finally occurred that I somehow managed to end up living and working in France. How did this California girl end up becoming a French citizen? My path was convoluted — more convoluted than most, I assert — but now that my certificat de naturalisation is safely in hand, I think it's time to point out the goods, the bads, the uglies, and some of the practical and procedural steps that, had I known them ahead of time, would have made my life easier. And less expensive.

This blog, then, will be devoted to some of the things I have observed and learned en route to French citizenship. It is not a "how-to" guide, because, quite honestly, for non-EU citizens, there are few if any guarantees that one can become French (nor even, perhaps more realistically and more in line with most Americans' aims, are there any guarantees that one can achieve long-term residency status with the right to work).

I will also write about interacting with the French social nets, bureaucracies, and other kinds of entities that (quite honestly) sometimes elicit "vive la différence!"... and other times, "OMG, I cannot believe what a hassle this is" when compared to similar scenarios Stateside. I fully admit that some of my "OMG" moments could have been avoided had I simply known more, and hopefully you, oh reader dreaming of a Life in France, will benefit from my experience and avoid my mistakes should you end up establishing yourself on French soil. (Or even if you've just arrived, oh expat, or possibly even if you've been here a while and are now thinking of trying to Stay Forever If Possible.)

A bientôt,
LaMaryKen