o/~ On the eighth day of Francemas, the prefecture gave to me, a carte de sejour after much stuffing around o/~

After taking an eternity around town in the early morning finding envelopes and croissants, I found my way out the the prefecture and queued for an hour or so in another effort to garner a carte de sejour. Having reached the line and established that I had all the requisite paperwork barring perhaps a fourth (fourth!) identity photo, the computer system failed, leaving me pondering the words "ce aprés-midi", and holding my passport and birth certificate somewhat forlornly.

So it was that I returned in the afternoon, with 4 more identity photos (for a grand total of 7), and pushed my way to the front of the no-doubt very offended queue of other petitioners, and was duly granted my ticket of leave (without, as it happened, needing a fourth identity photo). Of course, the rub is that the ticket I now have in my hot little hands is only temporary, and will turn into a pumpkin in April, by which time I will hopefully have received the more durable, one year version. This will naturally be sent to my present room, which I vacate on Monday in favour of some other, hopefully more hospitable corridor. C'est la vie.

On that note, my debt of graditude to the assistant here, who has been taking care of me, continues to accumulate at a great rate. I must endeavour to think of some way of repaying or at least acknowledging it.