I'm happy to report that not all fonctionnaires are created equal. My email to the prefecture actually got a response from a very very sympa fonctionnaire there who called me about my problem the morning after I emailed and again today after I followed up.

However because I'm an expat expat (can't think of another word for an expat who's married to an expat and lives in a 3rd country), the situation has an extra dimension. It's gotten to the point where I'm pretty much ready to throw in the towel yet again even though I think it's not reasonable to live the way I have been (no right to work, no carte vitale, not even the right to live here when my name is on the mortgage for the house!).

I wanna end this post on a positive note though so I'll say that it's really a great relief to feel like I've actually got a fonctionnaire working for me in my corner and trying to help out best she can.