Why is it the French can't have a 'normal' bureaucracy system with the typical level of red-tape you find in most Western countries? For some reason they decided they had to make it far more complicated. My issue with them at the moment concerns obtaining a carte vitale - the card that ensures you're at least partially covered by health insurance (I believe it's around 70% coverage). In France, when you go to the doctor, you show your carte vitale, pay the full fee at the end and then get reimbursed 70% of the cost. No carte vitale, no reimbursement. When I was living in the UK I applied (and received) a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which covers UK citizens when they travel within the EU, but now that I'm a resident in France (and don't have a UK address), I'm no longer covered by said EHIC card. I'm also paying a contribution (taken automatically 'at the source' from my monthly salary) towards the French social security. Which means that I'm entitled to use the French system and, ergo, a carte vitale. Simple, right? Wrong.
Well, kind of. I am actually entitled to all of that, it's just a matter of convincing the French that this is the case. The first time I went to the CPAM (Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie) de Haute Savoie, they told me that I was covered by the EHIC card and wasn't allowed to get a carte vitale. At the time I wasn't sure on the rules for this, so I didn't argue about it too much and left (although not without first asking why, in that case, I was making a contribution to the French system if I didn't actually benefit from it, but their reply was that that's just how it is).
I did some research when I got home and found out that I'm not actually covered by the EHIC card. This could've been quite serious, since if I wasn't covered by my parents' private health insurance it would've meant that I'd been skiing uninsured for the last 3 months... Anyway, a few days later I went back. This time I spoke to another woman and I tried a different approach (using words that were a little more vague) and, presto, I got to the next step. Which is a person in a room who quite clearly hates her job and couldn't get rid of me fast enough. I'd come prepared, with copies of every single paper I have in my possession (pay slips, birth certificate, passport, rent agreement, work contract, bank information, etc.), so I was feeling pretty confident by this point. I should've known better.
Turns out the bank information I had wasn't good enough. In France you have what's known as a 'Releve d'Identite Bancaire' (RIB), which is the information needed for someone to pay you (in the case of them needing to reimburse me). Normally you have to ask your bank for all of this information, which is printed on an A4 sheet of paper, however my bank had sent me this nifty little card with all of the same information on it. Rumor had it, said my bank, this card could be taken with you in your wallet and used exactly like one of the flimsy paper RIBs. Turns out, that rumor's wrong. So the woman took all of my papers and information, except my RIB, and told me to return the following day with a paper RIB (which I had at home, and by this time was cursing myself for not having brought). I did this, and put it in the mail box on the outside of the building she'd indicated to me the day before. I figured that was it, I'd get a letter soon-ish asking me for 2 pictures for my card.
Sure enough, this week I finally received a letter. Except inside I found my RIB and accompanying letter, with a note saying that I needed to provide my social security number... except I don't have one yet. So god knows how they're keeping track of my payments, but I'll worry about that later. Anyway, I went back into the CPAM today (I have to take time off work each time to do this as well) and explained the situation - all I wanted to do was attach my RIB to my file. Of course it couldn't be that simple though. Normally a file is only accepted when ALL of the information has been obtained (including the RIB), but in my case for some reason my file was already 'en cours' (in progress) which means that they couldn't do anything with it (although nobody could explain the reason why it was suddenly untouchable). I now have to wait for them to send me a letter giving me my 15 character social security number and asking for my RIB. Then I can send that in, and in theory, finally be asked for 2 pictures for my card.
However, since I'll be leaving in 2 months, it's all beginning to seem a little pointless, especially since guess what happens when I leave the 'departement'... that's right! My carte vitale is no longer valid. Besides, if I even get my carte vitale before I leave I'll consider a miracle - or at least a triumph over the French red-tape in the face of adversity. Something like that anyway. What I care about most anyway is my social security number because as far as I know that's what I need in the future to prove that I made payments into the system (in particular for my pension in who knows how many decades), and in theory that should be the next thing to arrive. I highly doubt it though. I have a sneaky suspicion I'm not going to hear from them again...
But it's this kind of unhelpful attitude which the French have which really puts me off ever living here for an extended period of time. It's ok for holidays or short periods, but I can't see myself putting up with it for more than a couple of years. Once you get to know someone they're fine, but with strangers (foreign or French) they're very unwelcoming. Sadly it's pretty much endemic and is like that even between people on the streets (for example, it's amazing how many rude comments you get from pedestrians or fellow bikers when you're cycling on a cycling track, because they think you've encroached on their space - when it's either them who's doing the encroaching or when there's plenty of room for everyone and you're being perfectly respectful of their space).
Anyway, enough of that - if you've made it this far, congratulations. I'd give you a cookie for your trouble, except... well, I can't.
On a different note, I decided to clear the hot air in my head after all of this by going for a walk along the lake after dinner - it was very windy today (which helped with the clearing of the hot gases...), so there were some impressive waves on the lake (impressive given the size of the lake anyway):
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