French Consulate, Part Two

In my last post, I wrote about the various documents and procedures required in securing our French long-stay visas. Today I'll talk about the actual appointment at the French Consulate of Chicago.

As I mentioned before, children under 6 years of age are not required to appear in person, so we got a sitter for the day. It had snowed the day before, it was bitterly cold, and I was thankful that we didn't have to drag the kids out in that weather. There were a few icy patches on the roads, but we had no trouble at all getting to Chicago. 

Now it's time for good news, bad news. The good news is that we easily found an underground parking spot close to the consulate, and we didn't have to step out into the icy Chicago wind. The bad news is that we were about 15 minutes too late to get the early bird special and paid an obscene amount for our glorious spot. Oops.

Once we arrived at the consulate, we had to check in at the security desk. We handed over our drivers' licenses, and the receptionist confirmed our appointments and handed us passes with bar codes. She mumbled something that Ben seemed to understand, so we set off for the elevators to our right. He scanned his pass and entered through the gate. I had plenty of time to dart in behind him, so I did. 

The alarms blared immediately and loudly. I could have died right then and there. The security agent (smirking) came over and took my pass. She punched in a code, scanned my pass, and waved me on. I was beet-red and mortified, but we hopped in an elevator and quickly rose to the 37th floor. 

After a wrong turn despite the sign giving us clear directions right in front of us, we arrived at the visa section of the consulate. It was a small office with small uncomfortable chairs that looked very French. We placed our passes inside the window as a sign directed us to do and had a seat. There was a gardening show on a small television, in French of course. I was a bundle of nerves, but it wasn't very long before a man called Ben to the window. I stayed behind, assuming they'd call me separately. However, the man took all the paperwork from Ben and only called me over for a picture. He said our visas would take a week to ten days to process. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes.

Relieved that something so crucial to our move had been taken care of, Ben and I were without our children in one of the greatest cities in America. So, we did what anyone in our situation would do: sought out some sights. I knew I wanted to go to Millennium Park to see Cloud Gate (aka: The Bean), but we really had no other plans, unless you count Garrett's Popcorn. I count it. It's fabulous.

                                                                                                     Credit: Getty Images


We set out for Millennium Park. Cloud Gate is amazing. Truly. I wasn't expecting to think much of it, but it is fantastic. I love the way it reflects the skyline. Perfection. If you're ever in Chicago, go see it.

After walking a couple of blocks in the wrong direction, we set off north of the Chicago River for lunch. Unfortunately, we were complete unorganized and had no idea where we should go, so we stopped in one of the many Starbucks to warm up a bit with some coffee. I knew there was a burger place I was interested in, but I convinced myself it was several blocks away. In reality, it was literally right across the street from the Starbucks. Ah well, we ended up at Pizzeria Due, which is the sister store to the famous Pizzeria Uno. It was a long lunch stop because the pizzas took 40 minutes, but it was nice to be out of the wind for a while. The pizzas were good, not anything fabulous.

Next we headed to Garrett's Popcorn. I heard about this place on Oprah years ago, and I've been obsessed ever since. When faced with a decision between cheese and caramel popcorn, I just cannot choose. At Garrett's I don't have to, thanks to their Chicago Mix. It's equal parts of both, mixed together. When I first had it back in February when we were in Chicago for Avery's big American Girl birthday extravaganza, I carefully started picking out the cheese and caramel separately. Then, I got lazy and just grabbed a handful. This was a life-changing moment. Seriously, the best popcorn I've ever had. Of course, the Chicago Mix is what I wanted this time as well, so Ben and I got a large bag. We got the girls a small bag of Gingerbread Caramel and later wished we'd bought a large bag of that as well.

Sadly, it was time to head home. We made promises to return to Chicago and explore further when we return from France. We have since received our passports with visas stamped inside, so all is set. The trip was both successful and enjoyable.