Don't give up hope but don't hold your breath either...! When we exchanged my wife's licence about 18 months ago, it was easy..straight to the pref. When I decided to do mine, I quickly read (too quickly!) the latest notes on the govt website and understood exchanges now had to go to the address in Nantes. Stupidly, instead of sending, as requested, just a photocopy of my licence with the application, I did the same as when we applied for my wife's and sent the actual licence - it was only afterwards I understood how the whole process was now working. Fortunately, I have been able to print out a copy of my UK licence from the GOVUK website and that has enabled me to rent cars in the UK etc. I presume it would also get me past any Gendarme checks although that hasn't been tested yet. Here's the bad news...I sent my licence to Nantes in June of last year. This morning, seven months later, I received a paper attestation which runs to September of this year.