Saga of the French Driver's License...

I went to the Nice “Prefecture” today.

In "Tarzan French", prefecture means the place where French bureaucrats torture poor foreigners!

In real French, it's a governmental building where foreigners need to go to get visas, driver's licenses, etc. Every country has theirs! France is no worse than anywhere else, except no one speaks English there! I digress...



I decided to go alone, in my "Cabriolet", That's Tarzan French for my wonderful VW Golf Convertable!, armed only with my “Tarzan French”, to try to exchange my Florida driver’s license for a French license.

Feeling confident after I got through the security gate, armed with seven French policemen...

Ah hmmm... didn't anyone ever tell them that no one wants to go into this building? Why the guards? We all just want to escape from here! I suppose they are afraid that someone might go postal here. That could happen, easily. More digression, sorry!

... I found the correct desk and took my number!

When it was my turn, I submitted all the documents including six months worth of electric bills to prove that I live here, six passport size photos, officially translated Florida license and a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE)!! I was confident!

Everything was going smoothly, EXCEPT that the woman behind the glass didn't want to take my photographs nor did she want my SASE. Hmmm... oh, oh!! This is not a good sign! I've never heard of a driver's license without photos, have you?

She simply said: "Vous ecrit un lettre!"

Huh???

Hello Tarzan? What in the world does THAT mean?? What just happened????

Doesn't "Vous ecrit un lettre" mean "You write a letter"??

This makes no sense to me and she wouldn't explain further. She just waved me away.

Groan…

I did have to fill out a form, all in French, which I could read (Halleluiah!) with my name and address, so maybe they are going to send me something?? Perhaps they'll send me a letter, telling me when the paperwork has been processed and I can come back (oh lucky me!!) to give them my pictures, my SASE and some cash? I have no idea what this lovely experience will cost! It must cost something?? Something more than my time and my self-confidence! Something more than the $60 I had to fork over to the “official translator” to get the Florida license translated into French! Surely!!

So, now I wait… and ask everybody I know here, what in the world just happened???

Ah, life on the Riviera, not all it’s cracked up to be, is it? Welcome to life in a foreign country!