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à la préfecture de Préfecture de l'Aude for TdS


David
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I have now reeived the date for our appointment for our "titre de séjours", with an instruction to attend at the "à la préfecture de Préfecture de l'Aude" with no address given, or even the town where the prefecture, or sub prefecture, is.

I am aware that there is a sub-prefecture in Narbonne, but I suspect that we have to go to the Carcassonne Prefecture at 52 Rue Jean Bringer.  Looking this up on Google is worrying as on the street view I cannot find where to enter the prefecture.

Also very worrying is that I am handicapped and my wife of 75 years old must push me in a wheelchair, but I cannot see any parking spaces anywhere near the prefecture, let alone blue badge parking spaces.

I would be grateful for the advice of anyone who has attended the Prefecture de l'Aude for the TdS as to how to get there, where to park, and if there are any loos in the building.

Very many thanks,

David

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David wrote the following post at 13 Jul 2021 10:27:

I have now received the date for our appointment for our "titre de séjours", with an instruction to attend at the "à la préfecture de Préfecture de l'Aude" with no address given ..

My 90 year old friend, wheel-chair bound and 'fragile' was in the same situation.

We wrote a simple email to the Préfecture - the contact details were at the bottom of the letter she received - describing the problem and asking for help.

(The 'Bureau des Etrangers' where the interview would take place was up a flight of stairs, the whole being renovated and also had no lift !)

They replied suggesting that I could go in her place with her supporting documents - so that's what I did.

Please contact your Préfecture by email preferably and explain your situation .. they are obliged to help.

Edit : Looking at their website you will need the 'Bureau des Etrangers' too .. you can contact them :

Pour prendre un rendez-vous avec le service des étrangers : votre demande par mail à :

[email protected]

en prenant soin de bien indiquer vos coordonnées (nom, prénom, adresse postale, numéro de téléphone, mail).

Un agent vous répondra dans les plus brefs délais.
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Thank you for that Sue, unfortunately I have received the notification by email which says not to reply, and there are no contact details.

I had not thought that it might be upstairs with no lift, so thank you!

It is a very good idea to email the prefecture, and we will, but they wish us to attend in order to take our fingerprints, so this might not work.

When you went to the prefecture did you enter through the small black door shown on Google street view?

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David, Sue lives in Morbihan, No 56, so her préfecture wouldn't be yours and maybe her door could be another colour[:)]

Just trying to be facetious; I do understand your predicament.  We also had to clarify the préfecture address when we went for our RVs

We emailed them and we had a reply within hours, explaining about the address (there was a bit of a mix-up in our case).

You can email your préfecture as explained by Sue and you might have a pleasant surprise as to just how helpful they could be.

Best to get an answer from them as soon as you can than worry about the RV.  You won't be the first or only people to have difficulty of excess.  Bon courage![:)]

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You have the correct address, the Prefecture is at the N end of the street.
It is a narrow one-way street. There are some parking places near the Prefecture, but I've rarely seen any vacant.
The entrance and the section you need are at street level - there are a couple of low steps on the way in, but there is usually a guard outside or just inside the door who I'm sure will help you.
There is large dedicated parking (paid for) area on the W side of the main road, Blvd Jean Jaurés, which is one way, S to N, and part of the one-way system around the city centre. Parking is usually available at all times. I'm afraid I've never noticed any blue badge places, but I'm sure there are some.

There is another large parking area on the N side of Blvd Barbes/Cdt Roumens, which is part of the one-way system on the S side of the city centre, but it's a fair way from the Prefecture.

If you search for "prefecture of aude, carcassonne" on Google Earth you will see its location and the nearby street layout. If you the go to Street View, this will give an idea of the route to negotiate - the small streets from the parking area to Jean Bringer are downhill and a bit steep.
The area within and outside the one-way system are both a maze of one-way narrow streets, so if you don't know Carcassone, best get onto the one-way system and follow it round until you reach Jean Jaurés. Once you get onto it, get into the LH lane so you can turn L into one of the parking entrances, preferably the last one, just before the traffic lights at the N end.

The parking area centre strip is one-way N to S, so if you go in at the furthest N entrance, you can check out the whole area for a free place and turn back onto Jean Jaurés to try again if necessary.

EDIT: I've just remembered there is a large underground parking below Gambetta Square at the S end of Jean Jaurés, which you drive around on the one-way system.  I've never used it, but it's also a longish way from the Prefecture.
We´ve been here since 1999, but usually only go into the centre of Carcassone for the Prefecture, and always park where I suggested above.

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I hope you noticed the edit to my post below.

Re your question about the black door in Street View.

The entrance is on the E side of Jean Bringer, There is a French flag outside, and a large arched green double door, which was locked the last time we went there, because of Covid regs.

Ringing the bell summons the guard, who checks why you are there.

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Thank you everybody, especially nomoss who has given some very comprehensive and helpful advice.  I am trying to absorb this, it is good to know that the department is on the ground floor, and I presume they have a loo there.  So the main difficulty seems to be parking.  I am trying to follow nomoss' advice on Google street view.

Many thanks indeed.
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[quote user="David"]
Thank you everybody, especially nomoss who has given some very comprehensive and helpful advice.  I am trying to absorb this, it is good to know that the department is on the ground floor, and I presume they have a loo there.  So the main difficulty seems to be parking.  I am trying to follow nomoss' advice on Google street view.

Many thanks indeed.
[/quote]

I have found that Street View in that area is not "joined up", so when you get to some junctions it doesn't allow you to take all the possible routes.
I just exit Street View and dive back in on the street I want to see.

Incidentally, if you turn L into the parking area which I recommended, just before the last set of traffic lights at the N end of Jean Jaurés, and almost opposite a petrol station on the R, you can then turn R into a bit of parking area with a 2-way centre strip.
This is very often almost empty, as there is no other entrance, and it's still not too far from the Prefecture. You can turn round in it and go back out again if necessary.
The street down to Jean Bringer is not quite as steep as further back.

I'm not yet in a wheelchair, but have difficulty walking, so I'm always investigating the best parking places and routes on Google Earth.
I very often print off a section of the aerial view to navigate by.

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David,
I have a friend who took a 90yr old in a wheelchair into the Carca prefecture recently, she's not on this forum, but I can check with her.  I don't think they bothered with taking the fingerprints of the 90yr old, she, the helper, got her own card a few days later (when they did take hers and hubby's).  

I am acutally nearer Carca than she is, but it's not my prefec, the dept border is odd around here and wanders, I am seconds from it, but in the next dept, so I cannot help.

She's also had to communicate (separately) with the same prefec to re-organise her daughter's appointment (daughter at uni, and got stranded there for the first appt), and I think she telephoned, but again, I can check, if you say you'd like me to. 

PS It will definitely be Carca, Narbonne are not doing CdS)

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  • 3 weeks later...
Well we are now back from our trip to Carcassonne, and I would like to thank everybody who responded, and in particular Nomoss for his extremely helpful advice.  Even just confirming the address was invaluable.

After searching the area on Google street view we decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and we booked a hotel with car parking.  We then took a taxi to the Prefecture and we were excedingly glad that we did.  We have quite a big car, and the very narrow roads frightened us even in the taxi.  When we arrived at the Prefecture we saw that there was nowhere visible to park, both on arrival and on departure.  The taxi dropped us at the door, and the security guard helped us to enter and pass through security.  The step at the entrance is there but it is not a problem for wheelchairs.

Once inside we were shown to reception who looked at our emails with the appointment times, and then gave us a ticket which stated that it was for those without an appointment.  This ticket gave us a number of 959 and told us that there were 29 people in front of us!  When we got to the seating area the illuminated sign showed the number 201!!  We got chatting and it seemed that on arrival the ticketing is passed out to first come first served, but this is roughly in the order of the appointments.  We also found out that there were only two couples in front of us with three people for fingerprinting.  Each person, including ourselves, took only 5 minutes to be processed.  The illuminated sign did not work, and was permanently on the number 201.  The other people there also confirmed that they had had great difficulty parking, and had eventuallly parked at quite some distance from the Prefecture.  Luckily they were all quite fit.

While waiting I investigated the loos, and while there did appear to be a disabled loo, all loos were closed to the public due to Covid!!!  So pleased that we had gone to the hotel for the loo before going, and that we were returning directly to the hotel!!!

There was very little waiting time as each person only took 5 minutes for the passport to be checked, one photo cut out for the paperwork, and for the fingerprints to be taken.  We ended up leaving the Prefecture 5 minutes before our second appointment.  All people were very friendly and helpful.

Even though we were only going from Port Leucate, we were very glad that we decided to take a hotel, and then use taxis.  The taxi number we used ended in the numbers 50 50, and they were prompt and efficient.

Hope this helps other people, and thank you all for your helpful posts.  We would certainly recommend finding somewhere to park safely, and then take a taxi from there.  For us this meant booking an IBIS hotel for the night.
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Well done to you and the people on here who gave you good advice. Also thanks for letting us know how it went. often people on forums just ask for help and you never hear from them again. It must be a big relief for you to have been successful. It's funny how different prefectures seem to have their own interpretation of the regulations and approach them in a different manner. I think we also were lucky that the prefecture we dealt with in Blois was very helpful from the security man on the door onwards.
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After receiving such helpful posts to my original request for advice, it seemed only right to let everyone know how helpful they had been, and also to go into some detail for others still to go to the Prefecture.

Looking at some other threads, I do see what you mean about people asking for help and then not giving feedback which seems a shame.

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David, glad it all went well.  Like you, we too decided to stay in a hotel (Beziers in our case) overnight, and checked the best way to walk to the sous-prefec (I do have some walking problems, but fine with a stick and plenty of time) and its timing the day before.  As with Carca parking is not so easy at Beziers either and it was rush hour too!  As our appointments were so early, we had breakfast back at the hotel afterwards before packing and leaving to travel the less than 1 hour back home again.  Like you we were in and out in 5 minutes each though we had to go in separately as both mobile.  The entry door organisation at Beziers was slightly less organised than that at Carca, but this was in March.

And as you rightly surmise, it is only right to give feedback, and help others too.

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Indeed NormanH!  Oh we knew where it was Ok, and where to park, but allowing for the time needed to be there, the travel time, the rush hour traffic and walking from the parking .. it was much safer (and actually nice to have a night "out" albeit hotel confined!, for once!!  And I would have never got OH away on time ... FYI we stayed at the Mercure which was in acceptable walking distance .. 10-15  mins ... and the only time except for my visits to the Oncopole where we have stayed overnight anywhere during hte whole of the pandemic!

Making a pleasant time out of necessity seemed a very sensible idea to me!!

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