French Citizenship Pros and Cons?

Looks like the applications are going online from June here in 22 and the delay list has moved forward :grimacing:

I too have good memories of Norwich. I spent my honeymoon there. Not that I could persuade my husband to do much sightseeing as he was convinced that all English towns were like Basingstoke. But I like the cathedral and the market place. Though If I had to choose I prefer Ely cathedral which delivers on the drive towards and while walking round it. And church bells, not just of cathedrals but nearly all church’s, are one of the things I miss a bit about England. The dong dong of french churches just doesn’t do it for me. Though I’m very aware that any time spent in the Uk would only highlight all the things I’d miss about France. That is the best and worst of moving to other countries. There are always things that you miss about what you’ve left behind.

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So agree - I lived in Brazil in the 70s and missed Englishness - pubs, cricket matches, countryside, old buildings, good theatre and museums.

Needless to say I’ve missed Brazilian warmth and kindness, the multicultural melting pot, samba and carnival and miles and miles of deserted sandy beaches ever since!

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There is a ring of bells near Perpignan - the ringers at St Mary le Tower in Ipswich told me about it. (I used to ring once and even though I haven’t done so for years, it always seems to get me a welcome to sit with the ringers and have a beer with them later. “Treble’s going… she’s gone” always brings back memories.)

So if you can get to Perpignan… you can have the best of both worlds.

How lovely I’ve not been to Perpignan yet but it’s doable as I’m near Toulouse. Thanks for the suggestion

Concentrating on what you do like about a country and not making the things you miss loom too large makes for a much more contented life Though I suppose that applies to just about anything. We never get it all do we ? Brazil sounds wonderful though, lucky you

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Hmmm… I wonder why?

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Yes, welt cathedral is impressive. They have toilets in the cathedral and the Gents was the first oneI discovered which sold condoms in a machine.

Wasn’t Norwich famous for having 365 pubs and 52 churches ?

Clearly CofE then, not Catholic :slight_smile:

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But he DID find time to try and teach me golf!!! And look at the seals Amazing we’re still here. I think it’s because I’m such an amazing person

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Think I’ve heard this before yes. Some very good beers in Norfolk. I miss them from’ time to time

Have you read Graham Swift’s wonderful novel Waterland? It’s set in the Cambridgeshire Black Fens actually (where I was born and raised) but features a brewing family that I always imagine more in Norfolk.

Yes I did but a long time ago. So don’t ask me what it’s about. I also loved Susan hills short stories based in aldeburgh. That was before aldeburgh became Islington on sea.

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@graham Except that each préfecture has their own list, which might be identical to this. Or might not.

And there is no point trying to tell a préfecture that your document is the right one if they don’t think it is. So anyone applying for nationality must check the website of their own préfecture.

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Whoops!
Wrong side of the bed this morning :scream::scream:

There does seem a tendency to often pick every single thing apart at times though. I can understand the frustration, especially when you’re just providing a link to something and not endeavouring to get into a discussion, so I’m not sure that’s a fair comment. I’ve tried to be careful not to do the same regarding the Attestation d’accueil thread as I don’t believe it’s anywhere near as clear cut as some who post a link to a site or article, even if from a government source, and then effectively say ‘there, it’s decided’, but it does no good to squabble over these things. Not everything has to be a debate, even on an internet discussion forum.:joy:

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Apologies Kirstea, I’m going to do some more “picking” :grin:

In fact when @JaneJones posted, my immediate reaction was “I so agree”. As often is discussed here - a central govt overview of what happens still leaves considerable leeway for individual departments to put their own stamp on it.
Three + years ago when we decided we needed cartes de sejour (this if you remember was when townhall meetings started about what the impact of Brexit was likely to be, OH came back from one saying “We’ll get our cartes now” and we were glad we did). We are in Lot et Garonne and the instructions for what was needed for our interview ran to two pages. I started posting here in anxiety saying “What do they mean?” People from other departments were saying “What on earth are you talking about? My department isn’t asking for any of this”. Our prefecture was unbelievably exigent. So @JaneJones is only offering what I consider to be a sensible warning about how to proceed and the importance of the department’s power.

My suggestion is that if you feel you have additional useful information to bring to the discussion, you post it - that’s the only way we learn how to live well in France and to cope with French bureaucracy and systems. Fortunately, when I was struggling there weren’t only people saying “Why are you bothering?” but people like Jane giving me hard, practical advice. I personally want more of it, not less.

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Pick away @SuePJ, pick away… :laughing:

I was very careful in my reply never to mention @JaneJones specific reply as I may well agree with both of you on this subject, I was just trying to add some context as to why I can understand people being exasperated, and why it’s not so much a toys out of pram or wrong side of the bed situation as just a ‘I don’t want to debate this, this isn’t my fight, I’m just presenting something I found’ situation. I’ve had that a number of times on here where people who have been very closed minded and dead set on their POV (again, speaking generally, not related to Jane’s comment at all) have been determined to engage me in a debate I have no interest in getting in. I’ve learnt to just ignore it entirely as saying anything in reply only makes it continue.

But then this isn’t my fight either (turn of phrase) so I probably should have kept quiet here too, I just felt some sympathy :see_no_evil::joy:

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There’s no helping some people, carry on the great work Graham.

Ps : Grumpy tablets available in Lidl, 2.35 € for 20.

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Bulk discounts available too​:rofl::rofl:

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