Thanks for all the good ideas...I'll let you know what I choose to do for tomorrow's apéritif.
I had kind of a crazy week, so I am extra glad it's Friday.
I am also pleased as peaches that we have our plane tickets for our trip back to the USA this summer. I am really looking forward to that trip! We still have to renew our oldest's daughter's passport and are hesitating doing just the French one because it's free for kids. The American passport renewal is expensive and requires my husband and I to take a half day off from work, pull Emma out of school and drive into Marseille to present her in person at the American Consulate. On the other hand, me the American mom, wants to make sure that my kids have their American passports up to date. So we may bite the bullet, open our wallets and face morning traffic into Marseille.
I've gotten used to living in a small town with not too much traffic...if you don't count the school drop off rush hour (more like 10 minutes)...which doesn't affect us since we usually walk there. Heck, our little town doesn't even have a stop light, just a couple of round abouts. So when I do have to drive into Marseille, I get all out of sorts with all those cars, traffic jams and parking problems...What are those again?
I hope to catch up on reading all my favorite blogs and maybe discover some new blog friends too this weekend. Cheers and Bon Weekend :)
About Me
- poppy fields
- Provence, France
- I'm American, my husband is French and we live in Provence with our two girls. It's here that I fell in love with the spring fields full of red poppies. And it's here that I've finally decided to try and put down some roots, tending my blog along the way...
des fleurs sauvages
- 10 rue de la Charme
- A Pretty How Town
- An American in Provence
- French for a While
- French Word-A-Day
- Frenchless in France
- From Fayence outwards
- La France Profonde
- Le Trip
- Letter to Kevin and Pauline
- momster
- No Place Like It
- Paris Parfait
- randomattentiondisorder
- Soyez la Bienvenue Chez Moi
- The Duchess of Earl in France
- The Late Bloomer
- The mountain dweller
- The Provence Post
- These Days in French Life
- Tongue in Cheek
- totally frenched out
mixed bouquets
wild flowers
edible flowers
in the garden...
field guides
14 comments:
Imagine my passport nightmare as a divorced parent. I'm so tempted to just let the kids fly on their French passports until they are 16, but I was told my someone at the embassy that it's illegal for an American to enter the US on a non-American passport. [insert eyeroll]
And you don't even want to know what I am going to have to go through to get the kids mew passports. No matter what, my ex will have to drive 2 hours to Bordeaux (taking off work, and possibly taking the kids out of school). He doesn't know this yet, and when he finds out, he is NOT going to be happy.
I sense a rant starting, so I will quit while I'm ahead!
Alison is right, it is illegal for US citizens to enter the US on a foreign passport. Yes, renewing a US passport is a HUGE hassle and very expensive, but you don't really have a choice. Oh for the good ole days when one parent could go, without the kid...
Sorry about my typos. Color me embarrassed.
One more comment: they've just raised the age from 14 to 16, so that means we'll have to go through this twice more with my 10-year-old, whose passport expires in June.
I love to go to Marseilles but I sure do hate the traffic. I'm getting a yearning to see the old harbor there again.
We just let her fly on her French one too. Eventually we will get the American one.
off to read your previous posts...
Hi just called in to say hello...found you through Frenchless in France...I do hope you get this passport thing sorted, seems quite complicated. i have been reading your blog for a while, so will add you to my French blog section. :-)
I am pretty paranoid about not keeping up the American passports too. We are going through a lot of nightmarish stuff right now trying to get our little one's American passport/birthright done in Mexico. It's a lot of hoops to jump through !
Good Luck with the passports fiasco and enjoy your trip! I found you from a link somewhere blog hopping and have enjoyed my visit! :)
We are heading to Marseilles in two weeks to do the very same thing. Any tips? Need to renew the twins passport.
Have also been very busy lately (mostly guests) so it's nice to catch up on some blog reading.
My girls have always had US passports only -- now I'm wondering if it is illegal for a French citizen to enter France on a foreign passport? If so, my girls and now I have been coming back into France illegally for years.
When I got my dual nationality, though, my town hall asked the Préfecture and they said I only needed one passport.
I just went through the passport renewal for daughter two, the first time my husband had to be involved. I thought he might be asked all sorts of questions, but they barely even acknowledged him! Just at one point the consul babbled off some oath in English and French, said "sign here please" and that was that.
We're just going through the passport thing for the kids' British passports here - I thought it was bad enough the amount they charge but at least we don't have to go there in person - it's only in Jo'berg, which would involve a plane trip! They seem to have got extra picky about the photos too since last time, so I'm just hoping they don't get sent back.
I think we have to have passports for both nationalities too, but at least the SA ones are a whole lot cheaper and we can get them in our local town.
Good luck with yours. It's definitely worth doing just to make sure of your kids retaining their dual nationality.
I think they just raised the price of passports here in the U.S. We dont really need them because we never go anywhere where we need one. But someday when my dream comes true and I plan my trip to Paris Ill be needing one. So thats about in 7 years. So hopefully you get it all worked out. I'd rather live in a small town(like I do now) Than a city anyday! Its so congesting whenever I take a trip to Buffalo. Have a great weekend!
Very interesting to read about all these bureaucratic intricacies. Good luck; it seems a dual citizenship is worth the effort though, at this point!
I had no idea that it was illegal to enter the US using another passport if you're a citizen. Sheesh. What a way to get my three-year-old arrested.
Am glad I read blogs.
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