When we thought about going to France, we already had in mind that we would be able to stay for 3 months. We'd heard that from someone. And of course we Googled to confirm. What we didn't take into account was the Schengen agreement. Schengen is the name of the 1985 treaty that enacted passport-free movement within most of the EU. A common policy was established allowing non-member visitors to stay anywhere within the area for any 90 days of a 180 day period. Having already spent 3 weeks in Spain, we had used up 21 days of our Schengen time before we arrived in France, which would mean we would have to leave Chamonix, and the Schengen area, on December 10th (earlier than our current plan of the 28th). There also go our plans to rent a campervan and drive around Italy in the new year!
But, we've done some research and it seems we may have a partial reprieve. A less well-known clause of the agreement allows individual member states to honour pre-existing bilateral arrangements with third countries in addition to the Schengen provision. Canada has an agreement with France dating back to 1950 that allows Canadians to stay in France for 90 days and vice versa. However, according to the immigration office, we need to get permission from the Prefecture (the state's representative in the Department). The Prefect of the Haute-Savoie appears to do business by email, and so we wait...
In the meantime, we welcomed our first guest to Chamonix. Lorna from Edinburgh had jumped at the chance to break her covid-induced travel hiatus to come and visit us and we have had a lovely week sharing life in the Alps. Not a drop of rain fell between her arrival last Thursday and around 1am this morning, the day of her departure. While the kids were in school we enjoyed lunch up at the Floria cafe and a hike up to the beautiful Aiguillette des Posettes, as well as a big family bike ride and a Saturday trip to the summer luge. On Lorna's workday, Crystal and I rented bikes again and did a nice loop of the valley. And on the kids' day off Lorna and Crystal did another hike to a mountain cafe (closed) while I marshalled the kids through their Wednesday ice rink activities. We had some nice meals including a raclette, drank wine and coffee like the French, and French stout like Brits.
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Friday, October 15th, Floria cafe, 1350m
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| Floria |
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| Saturday, summer luge |
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| Saturday, Toby in flight |
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| Monday, Aiguillette des Posettes, 2201m |
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| Lunch stop on the summit |
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| Descending down the valley |
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| Monday, after school patinage artistique (the translation just wouldn't sound right) training |
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| Tuesday, Simon and Crystal biking, Argentiere-Les Houches-Chamonix |
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| Wednesday, hockey practice |
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| Wednesday, Lorna's last supper. Everyone seems pleased with their dessert |
Now it's back to our routine briefly, before 2 weeks off for the school half-term. Toby has his first hockey tournament this weekend. It's going to be a steep learning curve.
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