Day 2-5: Settling in

Our first few days in Grenoble were a lot of signing, even though we do not know what we are agreeing to. Thanks to Nathan's employer, we have an agent helping us go through these procedures. They found us our apartment before our arrival, which was crucial to apply for "Carte de Sejour," a resident card. They also helped us open a bank account, which we need to set up the internet. We are now waiting for the bank card to be sent by mail.

Applying for Carte de Sejour at the prefecture started by lining up at 8:30 in the morning before the building opened, but most of the people there were for their driver's license (I think). We were one of the first ones for Carte de Sejour. Things we needed were:

1) Passports and a copy of the visa page with entry stamp
2) home contract
3) convention d'accueil
4) work contract
5) Nathan's Ph.D diploma (and French translation)
6) birth certificate (and French translation)
7) marriage certificate (and French translation)
8) medical visit documents
9) ID photos (4)
10) three stamped envelops with our return address

We applied, but we did not receive anything then. We are waiting for "recepisé,"a receipt to be sent by mail. Nathan is in Klagenfurt, and hope he will be able to get back to France without paying a hefty fine (as we were told by someone).

In the meantime, I am thinking about whether I should go up to the Bastilles (the fort) taking the cable car seen in the photo above...