change banks

I have done nothing about this. The shame!

An ancient cheque has even expired because of my non-action. I think I OD’ed on paperwork. It’s the one inarguable truth about France – the paperwork is abundant and without end, the bureaucracy Kafkaesque.

Interestingly, there is also a French equivalent for Kafkaesque: kafkaïen. I wonder if most languages have an equivalent?

I can’t believe no one has cheered such a life-affirming, meaningful goal!

• overdraft insurance
• yearly fees
• bank statement

I used to know all the necessaries, but I just haven’t needed to talk bank for a while, so it all drifted out of the brain.

and threatens such a wash of paperwork and appointments that I’ve been avoiding it for ages.

When I arrived in France, I accidentally ended up at a bank for severely rich foreigners. They won’t even give you a bank card unless you have more than 30,000 euros incoming every month!

This is so ridiculous it is hard to believe. (I’m sure these people exist somewhere on the planet, but I am most certainly not one of them.) The bank tellers are so nice to me though, I’ve been putting off changing banks for nearly a year. I will miss them.

So there’s all the reasons and excuses, but the time has come to do something about this.