Quite by surprise today, I got a letter in the mail from the Assurance Maladie stating that I have been added to F's Carte Vitale health card. So I can finally go to the doctor if I need to without having to worry about paying the full cost.

I originally applied for a carte vitale about a 8 months ago when I received my temporary carte de sejour. I had to fill in some forms and prove I was married to my husband who was employed in France. They then needed to see his carte vitale which he was still waiting for.

When his carte vitale finally arrived I wrote back to Assurance Maladie with a copy of the carte vitale but then they needed my carte de sejour, not the temporary one I had shown them.

So I'd kind of forgotten about the whole thing. I then stumbled upon my '

dossier

' the other day so I thought I'd send it back with a copy of my carte de sejour (which I received in February). I didn't even send a covering letter, I just put all the documents in an envelope and that was it.

It turns out that was enough so if I get hit by a bus tomorrow it won't cost me a fortune!

I wonder if they'll reimbourse me for when I went to the dentist last year? Probably not but it's worth a try. I'll send off the documents tomorrow and see what happens.