In Heaven…
- the mechanics are German
- the chefs are French
- the police are British
- the lovers are Italian
- and everything is organized by the Swiss.
- the mechanics are French
- the police are German
- the chefs are British
- the lovers are Swiss
- and everything is organized by the Italians.
I haven't been to Italy, but I think it would be difficult for them to out-disorganize the French. I have been back in the States for almost two months now, and it seems like maybe, just maybe, the red tape is wrapping itself up.
The most recent and hopefully final bit of this sticky red substance that I've had to deal with is my bank account. Because I left France before the end of April, I had to leave my account open until I got my final paycheck (about 800€, which is between $1000 and $1100 in American money: not an amount to just let go). The implications of this required leaving were, most importantly, that I would have to figure out how to close my account and get my money transfered from my home stateside.
Several weeks before we left, Michelle and I took the bus down to Pont de l'Arc to the specific branch of the bank where our accounts hand been opened was. We explained in the best French either of us will probably ever have that we were leaving, that we had another paycheck coming in, and that we needed to be able to close our accounts from abroad. The nice, reassuring man in the bank told us that there was nothing to worry about, closing an account was easy!
Oh, boy.
If closing a bank account in France is "easy," I don't want to know what a difficult process to go through might be. It took two months and a hefty transfer fee to get my money. During that time, I sent countless emails to addresses that seemed to be the right addresses and addresses that seemed to be the wrong addresses. I made three international phone calls to the bank, the second of which was on a Random Thursday Bank Holiday. That was normal, right?
In the end, everything got closed, and today, I get this very official letter in my inbox. It does, in fact, verify that my account has been closed successfully (I blurred out his last name, it didn't come like that):
I will have you know that this official letter is on no sort of letterhead; there is nothing that ties it to the bank. It could be from the guy next door to my house here, and I would have no way to know.
Go figure.
Maybe my account is closed, maybe I won't have to deal with French red tape anymore.
Maybe.
