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  • Becoming French
    • Global Entry
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    • Basics
    • Desserts
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    • COVID-19 Travel
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  • Home
  • About
  • Becoming French
    • Global Entry
    • Marrying French
    • Bienvenue en France
    • French Administration
  • Recipes
    • Basics
    • Desserts
    • Extras
    • Mains
    • Starters
  • Travel
    • COVID-19 Travel
    • Sites
    • Weekend Travel
    • Sight-seeing
A Buckeye in Paris

From Buckeye to Baguette

Welcome to A Buckeye In Paris!

My name is Sarah and I moved to Paris in March 2020, a week before confinement n°1. This little corner of the internet is where you can find my tales of dealing with

the ever-mystic French Administration as well as the latest baking endeavor.

I hail from the great state of Ohio, the buckeye state, and have left everything behind to join my husband (you can read the story here) in baguette country. I would not trade this life for anything! Come along with me as I explore Paris as an expat, bake my American comfort foods, and create a balanced life between French administration and la je ne sais quoi. 

  • OFII,  Paperwork

    Bienvenue en France : Validating your visa upon arrival

    / 15 September 2020

    I had to validate my visa within three months of my arrival in France and this was done completely online. Once validate, I would receive a convocation to present myself to OFII for and interview.

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  • visa application VLS-TS
    Marriage,  Paperwork

    Step Three: Application for VLS-TS (visa long séjour valant titre de séjour)

    / 14 August 2020

    Step-by-step description of my experience with the application for VLS-TS (long stay visa equivalent to a residence permit) for entry into France.

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  • livret de famille cover
    Marriage,  Paperwork

    Step Two: Transcription de l’acte de mariage

    / 14 August 2020

    Step-by-step description for how to apply for the transcription de l'acte de mariage through the French Conculate needed for the VLS-TS.

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  • certificat de capacité à mariage
    Marriage,  Paperwork

    Step One: Certificat de Capacité à Mariage

    / 14 August 2020

    The first step in the process to getting married in the States with a French person; the banns are published and le certificat is issued. Having completed this step will allow the next step, validating the marriage with the French…

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  • Marriage,  Paperwork

    How I Got My Visa d’Epoux (French Spouse Visa)

    / 13 July 2020

    The short version of my process from start to finish in obtaining my carte de séjour visa vie privée et familiale. This whole process took about 7 months from start to finish with a wedding in between.

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  • Beginnings,  Covid-19,  Paperwork

    You need a permission slip for that…

    / 30 March 2020

    With the World in survival mode life isn't what it used to be. I now need a permission slip to leave my house.

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  • Beginnings,  Know Before You Go,  Paperwork

    Are you a Trusted Traveler?

    / 10 January 2020

    Have you heard? Do you know what that is? If you plan on doing any sort of air travel in the future and on a more consistent basis, I’d look into the Trusted Traveler Program by the Department of Homeland…

    Read More
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abuckeyeinparis

Sarah Latrille
𝘉𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪 ! To 𝘉𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪 ! Today is bittersweet, the end of vacation, but the beginning of the weekend. What a conundrum! Are there any souvenirs you like to bring back with you? I collect tea spoons from all the places I've been. I've got over 100 spoons in my collection to date. They are becoming harder and harder to find these days. My grandma started buying them for me when I was little and I kept up the tradition. It's fun to look back and remember all the places I've been to and it makes for a neat conversational piece! Anyone else have to unpack immediately when they get home? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Or is it just me? I have to put everything away or it doesn't feel like I am home. I also have to do a load of laundry to be able to relax. Is that normal? Hope you have a fantastic Friday wherever you are, that your weekend is filled with relaxation and rest! Back to your regularly scheduled Paris content on Monday ! Bisous! 😘 #weekendmood #weekendvibes #fridaymood #fridayvibes #weekend #vacation #vacances #beach #beachlife #beachlover #ocean #oceanlover #arcachon #bassindarcachon #suddelafrance #southoffrance #discoverfrance #nouvelleaquitaine #gironde #buckeyetobaguette
Fall is here! 🍂🍁🌰 So many things about th Fall is here! 🍂🍁🌰 So many things about this season that make me excited : sweaters, crisp air, everything apple cinnamon (move over pumpkin spice!), And particularly fall foliage. I love watching the leaves change. Growing up in small-town Ohio, the fall foliage is on point! My favorite is to drive through Amish country with the windey roads and gorgeous colors. That's one thing I miss the most about home, celebrating and appreciating the seasonal change from summer to fall. If anyone has any good spots to watch the leaves change in Paris, Let a sista know! We could go leaf watching together! Video : October 2019, Amish country Ohio. On the way to the wedding venue with my mum, @brokenbread79 . #fallvibes #fallishere #fall2021 #fallcolors #fallfeelings #autumnishere #autumnvibes #autumnmood #fallinparis #automne #parisianautumn #pariscity #paris #parismaville #parisliving #americanabroad #americaninparis #girlgoneinternational #buckeyetobaguette
More pépites (goodies) from the Bassins de Lumiè More pépites (goodies) from the Bassins de Lumières this past weekend. I seriously could not and cannot get enough of this space ! Un vrai coup de coeur. ❤️ The four water bassins and the reflection of the images onto the water was incredible! An added bonus indeed. We had tickets for 11 am on a Saturday, i was worried it was going to be crowded like at the Atelier (in Paris). This was far from the case. Because the space is easily 5x the size of the Atelier, we never felt like it was crowded. We even went to the seatong area in the far Bassin and it didn't feel like we were packed in like sardines. Again, if you're in Bordeaux, this needs to be on the top of your list. And regardless of the show, you need to go. #bassindeslumieres #bordeaux #renoir #monet #chagall #bordeauxmaville #bordeauxart #bordeauxcity #bordeauxlife #vacation #vacances #vacancesenfrance #discoverfrance #francefr #francetrip #francetourisme #francophile #frenchliving #frenchadventure #frenchlife
Now that you've arrived in France, what's next ? V Now that you've arrived in France, what's next ? Visa Validation ! This needs to be done within the first 3 months of your arrival or your visa is considered null and void. When I received my passport and visa back from the French Consulate, there was a piece of paper that was included that had all the instructions and steps that I needed to follow for validating my visa upon arrival. Funny story (well maybe not). When I was an exchange student here in Paris, I didn't realize at the time that I needed to validate my visa. I realized this when I was on a trip at the end of my year across Europe and we were entering Italy. The trip coordinator needed to collect everyone's passports for border control. When they were looking over mine, they realized I had not received the stamp that validated my passport, technically not there legally. *Panic mode commencing* Thankfully nothing happened, but it could have a sticky situation! Lesson : always check your administrative processed! I wrote about my process of validating my visa when I arrived in March 2020 up on the blog . Check it out for more details on the process! Link 🔗in bio ☝️to read about the process. Click here 👇 (Facebook friends): https://abuckeyeinparis.com/visa-validation/ #visa #visavalidation #vlsts #viepriveeetfamiliale #frenchliving #frenchmindset #frenchadmin #frenchadventure #demarches #expatinfrance #expatliving #expatblogger #expatlife #americanexpat #americanabroad #americaninparis #americaninfrance #parisblogger #parisliving #parisdiaries #girlgoneinternational #buckeyetobaguette
📌 Bassins de Lumières (Bordeaux) This is a mu 📌 Bassins de Lumières (Bordeaux) This is a must if you're planning on visiting Bordeaux. If you know me, I'm a huge fan of @atelierdeslumieres and when I realized we were going to Bordeaux for a weekend, I immediately booked tickets to @bassinsdelumieres ! This art spaces occupies a former German submarine post from WW2. Bordeaux was ideal at the time for the Germans because of it's local and access to the ocean. The Germans occupied Bordeaux at the beginning of 1940. Construction on the base started near the end of 1941 and it took 19 months and 6,500 workers (a third who were Spanish Republican prisoners) to finish the base. The totality of the surface is 484,376 ft2 (45,000 m2). There are 4 wet docks and 7 dry docks for a total of 11 docks. The base could hold up to 15 U-boats (large submarines) at one time. The base was inaugurated in May 1943 and was bombed by the American forces in May of 1944 and eventually abandoned in August 1944 by the Germans. The French Navy took over the base until the 1960s where part of the space was occupied by various companies, including metalworking workshops. In 1999, the base refocused and changed with the addition of a multi-disiplinary program heard towards the arts (exhibitions, projections, and music). In 2020, Bordeaux entrusted Culturespaces with bassins 1 to 4, the wet docks. The Bassins de Lumières offers an immersive and high-quality visual and audio art experience. The expositions expand classic and contemporary art pieces and artists and iclude audio clips that correspond with the art. #bassindeslumieres #renoir #monet #chagall #pierrebonnard #raouldufy #mediterranean #impressionism #art #artexhibition #bordeaux #bordeauxmaville #bordeauxcity #bordeauxart #bordeaux_focus_on #voyageenfrance #francetourisme #vacances
I may have cried during this exhibit. So excited t I may have cried during this exhibit. So excited to check the Bassin des Lumières off my list as well the expo Monet, Renoir... Chagall, Voyages en Méditerranée. Expect to see more photos and videos from this! So excited to share it with you! Here's a little #sneakpeek #bordeaux #bassindeslumieres #monet #renoir #chagall #art #weekendadventures #weekendtrip #bordeauxmaville #bordeauxlife #francefr #francetrip #decouvrirfrance #decouvrirbordeaux
Happy Friday! Heading into the weekend (and mes va Happy Friday! Heading into the weekend (and mes vacances) like a runaway train. On our way to the ocean and some southern (compared to Paris) weather. 🍇 Pit stop at Bordeaux for the weekend. 🏖️ Arcachon for the rest of the week. Looking forward to deconnecting, knitting, sitting in the sand, and coloring. What are you looking forward to this weekend? #weekendmood #weekendadventures #weekendvibes #travel #traintravel #vacation #restandrelaxation #disconnect #explorefrance #francetourisme #findingfrance #parisblogger #parisianstyle #parisliving #parisfrance #francefr #frenchliving #frenchlife #americanabroad #americaninparis #americaninfrance
Hump day blues. Aren't you supposed to be excited Hump day blues. Aren't you supposed to be excited on Hump day? Paris certainly wasn't yesterday! I told a girlfriend that it felt like the winter blues came early! It was grey, rainy, and blah yesterday. Paris was certainly having a sort of temper tantrum. Despite that moodiness, she still looked darn gorgeous! Just walking to work and even Montorgueil was poppin'! #parisianstyle #pariscity #paris #pariscartepostale #parismood #parisgray #parisjetaime #parismonamour #parismood #parisstreetstyle #lagrisaille #parisattitude #humpday #wednesdayvibes #parisliving #parisblogger #parisianmoment
𝐀𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 // We're a little over a year in and no luck yet. This has been a very unique experience that's taught me a few lessons. The struggle has not disappointed! We've seen 2 in the last week and one hits all but 2 of our criteria. We've got our fingers crossed and are sending all the good vibes out into the universe with all the prayers that our dossier is accepted. 🤞🙏🤞🙏 ⏰ Patience • This has certainly be a hard lesson to be reminded of, again. I've seen friends find places in a matter of weeks to a few months and felt completely discouraged. But we know the right one will show up at the right time, it's just a matter of patience. 🤝 Compromise • Thomas and I have gone back and forth on our wants/needs for an apartment. We've heard each other out on what the other would like to have and what they are willing to budge on. We've discussed at length features and perks, narrowing down what we want together. This has been the best thing we've done . 📝 Priorities • From our compromises, we've narrowed down our (flexible) priorities. This has been something that we've discussed at every viewing. Is it really necessary the we have a balcony? Shower vs. Bath tub? Open kitchen vs. Separate kitchen? I find myself becoming more like my husband : particular and detailed. Who knew I'd be this nit-picky when it came to a new apartment?! 🌈 Hope • Despite feeling beaten back down to the bottom every time, I've been gently reminded that "our" apartment is out there, we just haven't found it yet. Holding out hope can be exhausting sometimes, especially when you have your heart dead set on it. Sometimes stepping back and looking at the bigger picture helps you refocus and regroup. I've found a renewed hope and we're still plugging away! Has anyone else felt this struggle? What have been your frustrations? Where did you find the positives? 📷 @areyouzany #apartment #apartmenthunting #parisapartment #parisliving #parislifestyle #myparisdiaries #howtobeparisian #lavieparisienne #parisianstyle #pariscity #parisfrance #buckeyetobaguette #apartmentproblems #americaninparis #americanabroad #expatinparis #expatliving
Throwing it back to 2019, when we decided to get m Throwing it back to 2019, when we decided to get married and the paperwork that went into this whole process. A great introduction into the world of French Administration! 🇫🇷📝💍🧳🚚 This whole process was several steps, with lots of waiting and paperwork. This is the whole reason I started my blog. This is how A Buckeye in Paris was formed. I was having a hard time finding all the information I needed and wasn't sure where to start. Thanks to the experience of a friend, she pointed me in the right direction and that got the ball rolling. I thought it might be beneficial to someone, somewhere, someday, to be able to find any and all information in regards to this process. Here are the steps we took so I could apply for VLS-TS : VPF visa : Step 1️⃣ : certificat à capacité de mariage - this was required before the wedding. Step 2️⃣ : transcription de mariage - this was for registering our marriage with the French consulate. Step 3️⃣ : application for VLS-TS : VPF - the final step of applying for my VPF visa. Want to know more nitty-gritty details? Check out my blog for the juicy details : https://abuckeyeinparis.com/category/marriage/ Or click the link in my bio! 🔗 ABiP // How I got my visa d'epoux (VLS-TS : VPF) #becomingfrench #visa #vls-ts #viepriveeetfamiliale #vpf #movingabroad #frenchadmin #paperwork #wedding #marryingfrench #frenchlife #frenchliving #parisblogger #parisliving #france #frenchmindset #francoamerican #francophile #pariscity #parisjetaime #americanabroad #americanexpat #americaninparis #expatinfrance #expatdiaries #expatinparis #expatliving #expatlife #expatblogger #buckeyetobaguette
Bon weekend ! 🥳 Who's excited for the weekend? Bon weekend ! 🥳 Who's excited for the weekend? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Did this week drag on or was it just me? Spotted these little baguettes early one morning waiting patiently by the front door. Thought this was quite the quintessential Parisian scene. I felt like these baguettes, waiting patiently for the weekend. It's been a long couple weeks and I always look forward to the weekend where I rest and recharge. Taking it slow and reminding myself that it's okay not to have plans or jam-packed day off. #weekendmood #weekendvibes #baguette #parisianrestaurant #quartiermontorgueil #paris2 #parisfrance #paris_focus_on #parisdiaries #parisfoodie #myparisdiaries #parisstreetstyle #parisianvibes #parisianstreets #parisliving #pariscity #paris #parismonamour #parismaville #pariscartepostale #chouette_paris #seemyparis #paris_sans_moderation #thefrancophiles #thefrenchcollective
Death of a charcuterie board. Do you know what g Death of a charcuterie board. Do you know what goes into a charcuterie board? Do you want some tips and tricks? Do you wanna know how to apéro like the French? Should I do a post of how to assemble a good board? I wanna hear from you! Let me know below 👇 with either a 🧀 or a 🥖 if you're down ! First photo by @areyouzany to show proof he ordered it while I went home to grab our coats because it was cold. Second photo by me. Because it acted as proof that I practically single-handedly sleighed this by myself; mainly the cheese bit. No shame. #charcuterieboard #apero #drinkswithfriends #eveningsnacks #cheeseboard #localdive #withfriends #weeknightfun #plancheapero #enterrasse #howtobeparisian #americaninparis #parisfrance #parisianevening #parisfoodie #paris_focus_on #parismaville #parisliving #parislifestyle #parisjetaime #pariscentre #americanabroad #americanexpat #expatinparis #expatliving #cheflife
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Recent Ramblings

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