The idea of moving to another country is daunting, yet thrilling.
One of the things we've stressed about has been relieved.
Every time we read a memoir about Americans moving to France, they write big sections about the difficulty of getting a driver's license. Apparently, everyone has to take sessions and sessions of driving lessons, and the instructor decides when the student is ready to take the road test. The cost for the lessons ranges from 1000 Euro to 1500 Euro, not to mention the trouble with taking the written test in French, rather than our native English.
Today, I found a recent article that says Ohio is one of the states that France has an agreement with. If we get our French driver's license within a year of moving there, we don't have to jump through the hoops.
What a relief!
Unfortunately, the list of states did misspell Ohio, calling it instead, Ohia. And, it had a clear warning that the list of states might change at any time.
My fear, of course, is that a French clerk who is a little bored on a Tuesday morning as the hour ticks toward noon, might simply say, "Today, we do not honor the driver license from Ohia."
Another difficulty is that in order to get our French license within a year of moving to France, we must surrender our Ohio license.
That makes me nervous, even though I won't be living in Ohio any more.
Here's an article from the French embassy that lists all the states eligible for driver's license exchanges. It didn't misspell Ohio.
Earl and I have both driven in France, so we aren't nervous about the actual driving, just the paperwork.
And we both drive stick shifts, so we won't have the problem that many Americans have when they move to France and can only drive manual transmission cars. So truthfully, the difficulties are melting way.
Now to find someone who can translate our Ohio driver's licenses into French before we leave.
6 comments:
I love how all your concerns are melting away! It’s really happening Paulita! I’ve got the fantastic trailer for The Martian, en francais!!
Sim, That's definitely a positive way to look at it. I love your French movie trailers.
easy peasy lol. Australia also has a reciprocal agreement for licence exchange but it would be hard to surrender your original.
More thrilling than daunting ... you just make a new life and have further adventures. Wishing you all you hope for in the move.
I'm wondering if you have to wait a year will your Ohio license be expired by that point. It takes a lot gumption to move to another country let alone the language issues.
Do you have a departure date? This is so exciting.
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