Changes of latitudes

And yet, the attitudes....

We have moved. As of January 1, 2022 we are now located in Lot-et-Garonne in the tiny village of Thézac. We are renting a rather lovely gîte from the Mairie of Thézac.

With a change of location we of course need to start changing addresses. Especially with government departments.

Since being approved as an Auto-entrepreneur - the simplest and fastest way to register a business, although it has to be one of certain types of businesses, not “Freelance journalist” which the government believes must be a salaried position. So within the French government I am now listed as an “édition de revues et périodiques.” Close enough for le rock and roll.

All of this is handled by Finances Publique, and then URSSAF, the French social services agency. I now have a SIREN number, which identifies the business, a SIRET number, which is the same but adds more numbers to say where I’m located, and a Numéro de Sécurité sociale, which in theory gets me access to things like health care through CPAM.

Once I have mailed the office in Agen:

- certified copy of the complete birth certificate and translation,
- copy of the passport or ID card,
- RIB (bank account details),
- form S1106,
- proof of residency (last 3 months of utility bills)
- marriage certificate (if necessary),
- copy of visa/titre de séjour,
- copy of URSAAF letter

(I’m now wondering if the “URSAAF” listed above is actually the “URSSAF” that sent me my number…..)

The car registration has to be changed via ANTS, the Agences nationale des titres sécurisés. Since the car was registered in Susan’s name we had to ask them to tell us the super-secret ID needed for log-in - an email that took two hours to arrive - and then click through to reset the password. Which got us a rejection based on the token not being recognised.

That is the point when we initiate the classic French technique of “stop, and wait a few days until something else resolves itself.” Because more often than not that’s exactly what solves problems - stop messing with them, and just let them fix themselves.

In an age when we expect everything to be immediate and to happen on-line in seconds or less, this seems counter-intuitive, but once you’ve adapted to it, it feels good.

On the positive side of things, I got to the checkout at the Intermarché yesterday with toothpaste, cat food, and a few other things, had my customer loyalty card scanned, and was told “Vos achats sont gratuits aujourd'hui.” Or, “Your shopping is free today.” I don’t know how the card works, but somehow it paid for my shopping!