DLs!

I do NOT want to talk about the Packers game last night, so instead I will tell you about our new French driving licenses.

As perhaps the last item on our administrative to-do list, last month Jodi and I applied for our French driving licenses. Our American (Florida) licenses are valid here in France for one year, so there was no big rush, and we wanted to wait until after our trip back to the U.S. in July, so September seemed like a good time. The interesting bit is that since the states issue the licenses in the US, France negotiates (or not) a reciprocity agreement with each individual state. Florida is on the list, so for us it was as easy as handing over our FL card, waiting a month, and then getting back the French license AND the original FL license (very civilized, that last bit...it's tough to get a replacement card in FL). Wisconsin, it turns out, is NOT on the list, so if we hadn't made the move to Tallahassee in 2006, I would have had to take a driving test here to get my license. Which is funny, because of course I got my FL license by just handing over my WI license, but whatever...

Anyway, we now have our French permits, and we learned that (1) they are good anywhere in the E.U., and (2) they never expire, so in principle we could come back to Europe 40 years from now and be all set. Unfortunately my motorcycle license didn't transfer, but all French licenses are valid for bikes up to 125 cc. Which means that Jodi could go hop on a little Kawasaki now if she wanted to. I'll let you ponder that for a moment.

The locals tell us it is better to use our American licenses for as long as possible, because if we ever get pulled over, the cops won't want to deal with the hassle and the paperwork of the foreign license, so sometimes they will just let you go. But, come next January, we will be regular French drivers, which I guess means we should start driving unpredictable speeds (too slow or too fast) and execute radical passing maneuvers around dangerous corners. At least they're not as bad as the Italians...

So combined with the arrival of Faith's residence card last week, I think we are finally - after nine months - fully licensed and legal members of French society!