Showing posts with label French driving licence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French driving licence. Show all posts
22nd March 2015
Finally I have my new French driving licence. Yes, with enough perseverance, the infamous bureaucracy here can be overcome. But what's this on the name line? I had forgotten that, since last year, the law states that married women will receive official documents in their birth surname. Apparently laws have existed here since the French Revolution stating that 'no citizen can use a first name or surname other than that written on their birth certificate'. Then, why is there a tick box on French tax returns for women to use their birth names? Surely the opposite should apply, but what do I know? No point telling the authorities that I particularly wanted the new card, with my recent photo embedded, to be used as a useful id card - when the name 'Olswang' doesn't match the name on any of my other documents. Indeed, it's the first time I've seen my forename and birth surname together for nearly 50 years! Quite a shock. I asked Him indoors what he thought. He says he doesn't know why babies take their father's name anyway, when his identity can often be dubious. I agree. Let's mount a campaign for babies to take their mother's name. At least she can't be denied.
2nd May 2010
The letter said 'be at the prefecture, Montauban, at 14.00 hours', so as the guilty parties we had to obey. But, what to do with the dogs? Too long to leave them at home. Besides, she cries in the house and he wrecks the place (rather like me and Him indoors really). So we all piled in the car, with me (as the innocent party) driving. I knew the whole place would be shut between 12 and 2 p.m., so there was only one thing to do. I wasn't complaining as we found a special 'offre du midi' at 7.50 euros each for 3 courses.
Montauban was hot, so we were lucky to find an underground car park to keep the dogs cool. It was light, cool, very clean and even had piped music to keep them happy. So, we trudged up to the Prefecture with dread in our hearts. But, I was sure I had all the necessary paperwork - essential in France. I even took copies of his birth certificate, passport and our EDF bill just in case.
Result? Success. Him indoors now has a French licence. They differ from English ones (which start with no points) in that they begin with 12, which you lose when you make a contravention. Points lost are reinstated after 3 years of good behaviour, but beware. If you lose even one point just before the 3 years are up, you have to serve another 3 years of good behaviour! The good thing is that French driving licences are for life (not until 70, as in the UK), so we won't require a medical or re-test in French (!) unless we apply to drive an artic. - unlikely I'd have thought - or lose our licence completely..... Drive carefully!
Montauban was hot, so we were lucky to find an underground car park to keep the dogs cool. It was light, cool, very clean and even had piped music to keep them happy. So, we trudged up to the Prefecture with dread in our hearts. But, I was sure I had all the necessary paperwork - essential in France. I even took copies of his birth certificate, passport and our EDF bill just in case.
Result? Success. Him indoors now has a French licence. They differ from English ones (which start with no points) in that they begin with 12, which you lose when you make a contravention. Points lost are reinstated after 3 years of good behaviour, but beware. If you lose even one point just before the 3 years are up, you have to serve another 3 years of good behaviour! The good thing is that French driving licences are for life (not until 70, as in the UK), so we won't require a medical or re-test in French (!) unless we apply to drive an artic. - unlikely I'd have thought - or lose our licence completely..... Drive carefully!
11 April 2010
I suppose it had to happen some time. An envelope with Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite embossed in the corner arrived with the usual trash mail. Thought it was the annual tax declaration form. But it was worse than that. We've been clocked for speeding in France! It's the most bizarre thing. You'd think being English, we'd know all about rain but in France it's crucial because there's a different speed limit when it's raining than when it's not.
The big question is: what speed to drive when it's just spitting with rain??
The Avis de Contravention says 'votre vehicule a ete controle a 121 km/h, pour une vitesse limite autorisee de 110 km/h'. French motorways have a limit of 130 km/h when it's dry and 110 km/h when it's wet. But, how can we argue on that specific day on that particular bit of road that it wasn't really raining at all?
Of course, with all things French, there's the usual mountain of paperwork to process. Because our licence is an international one, in order to add these new point(s), we need to obtain a French licence. And, to do that, we must take photos and every id we possess to the prefecture in Montauban.
I don't know what it is about so-called driving offences. Why treat 'ignorance' of the system by law-abiding people as a full-on criminality offence? Oh well, c'est la vie.......
The big question is: what speed to drive when it's just spitting with rain??
The Avis de Contravention says 'votre vehicule a ete controle a 121 km/h, pour une vitesse limite autorisee de 110 km/h'. French motorways have a limit of 130 km/h when it's dry and 110 km/h when it's wet. But, how can we argue on that specific day on that particular bit of road that it wasn't really raining at all?
Of course, with all things French, there's the usual mountain of paperwork to process. Because our licence is an international one, in order to add these new point(s), we need to obtain a French licence. And, to do that, we must take photos and every id we possess to the prefecture in Montauban.
I don't know what it is about so-called driving offences. Why treat 'ignorance' of the system by law-abiding people as a full-on criminality offence? Oh well, c'est la vie.......
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