Going home

The Swiss duoane (border crossing)

Lockdown in Southern France was over. We were ready to go home to Switzerland. According to the new pandemic regulations we could travel 100K. Switzerland was over 700K. hmmm

As a Swiss citizen, a legal resident of Switzerland I would be allowed into my country. Rick as my husband with a Permis B, a resident permit, would also be allowed. As just an American maybe, maybe not.

We wanted to make sure we had the proper documentation for the douane (border) as well as if we were stopped by the French gendarmes. So we prepared for all eventualities:

• Marriage license (with different last names - it is proof we're married) This is a several page document
• Attestation of our wedding
• Passports
• Identity Cards
• Copy of our apartment's lease
• Sherlock's passport (includes vaccinations)
• My Certificate of Loss of Nationality (American)
• Copy of my notification of acceptance into Swiss nationality (with my accent it might make them question why the canton accepted me)
• The required travel form that did not include a category to go to Switzerland which had only become available on line Monday night. We gave the number of the adjoining French department.

We had no idea if we were allowed into Switzerland if and when we would be allowed back into France (which since has been changed to June 15 but like everything with the pandemic things can change again and again). I am a property owner in France and we have a registered business in France but we are not legal residents.

With all the restrictions, I tend to think what people went through during WWII when they wanted to travel and needed all kinds of paperwork.

Determination of legal residence varies from  country but most require 6 months--it has to do with tax regulations. To get permits to live in another country also varies but mostly it includes the money to support one's self be it independent or through a company. Visitors in the Schengen (EU or EU treaty countries) region may stay for 90 days but then must leave for 90 days is the most simple way to explain what we dealt with before Rick got his right through our marriage to live in Switzerland. 

Any friend who wants to site down for a glass of wine with us after we are again allowed such activities can hear our entire story of changing countries. Maybe make that a bottle of wine and a six course meal and we will still give you the shortened version

I am a French property owner and we have a business in France but that does not give me the right to be called a legal resident which could have made it difficult to go back to Argelès. We figured it could be anything from weeks to months before the border between France and Switzerland would open. Just in case we prepared more documentation which included.

• Electrical bill for our French apartment
• Proof of our business status
• Everything from entry into Switzerland
• Car registration and insurance (French)

So armed with almost every document we could think of, we loaded the car.

• Computers and electronics
• Summer clothes (not sure what we had there)
• Papers we tote back and forth
• Rick's hickory clubs
• Iron cast fry pan
• Two of his mother's quilts
• Paintings we want for the walls
• Sherlock's toys
• Sherlock
• A picnic lunch

One the way out of town we passed Mamie Rosemarie who blew us kisses through her mask.

We were worried about certain things:

• Once we passed 100K would we be stopped (66 on the license plate) and the butterflies decorating the car is a give away
• Would the aire toilets be opened and if not what would we do? Aires are rest stops with places to picnic, enjoy the scenery, exercise and toilets which are usually quite clean.
• Would the many cameras mounted on bridges pick us up
• How closely were they monitoring the 100K limit?
• When we got to Switzerland what would they ask us. (We had prepared our story)

The weather was rainy with about two spots of sunshine until Grenoble when the mountain views were their usual spectacular selves. The clouds seemed to gather on different levels on the mountains. For the many times we have made the trip each time they seem different. Beauty abounds on all the trips.

Because of all the rain in the past month there was a lushness that we'd not seen before.

We stopped to eat our tuna fish sandwiches. Sherlock poked his head between us. "What's cha got?" he seemed to be saying.

Rick offered him a doggy treat. He spit it out. Rick tried touching a treat with the tuna. He licked the tuna off. Okay, okay, he's spoiled rotten. We gave in and gave him a small bit of tuna. Since he has a tendency to get car sick, we tend to underfeed him on the trip, but had he been starving his attitude toward the doggy treats would have been more receptive.

We saw ONLY one gendarme vehicle, lights flashing on the opposite of the highway.

The last leg of the trip is the French countryside outside of Geneva. We decided to cross the border at Anières, which is a tiny village. We figured the main crossings would have more people and be more family.

Because of the Schengen open border treaty, the crossing has been unmanned for years. With the new pandemic restrictions, two uniformed men walked out of the guard house.

Rick showed them his American passport and Permis B saying we were residents.

"Et Madame?" one of the guards bent down to look in the window as the other guard checked out the French license plate.

We explained we had a second house in the South of France had gone down for Easter and got caught in the lockdown. When it was lifted on Monday we packed up to come home.

I searched through my wallet for my identity card, BUT before I could find it, they saw my Swiss drivers license. The photo was taken in 2003 when I had had long red hair, long since replaced by short white hair.

"She's got a license," one guard said to the other and to us, "Go ahead."

We did.

Home again, home again jiggerty jig.

Sherlock is so happy to be home. He rushed to the front door.

And the good news was he didn't get car sick.