Word Games

REMEMBER THOSE WORD analogies we had to do in school and for the SAT tests? You know, the ones that go like this: 'foot is to leg, as hand is to _______' with the answer obviously being 'arm'. Well, I've got a french-related one for you to help me solve:

American Consulate is to French Préfecture, as efficiency is to _________?

Here's why this question came to mind, briefly.

I've mentioned that we're going to Ireland next Wednesday and I am worried that my new passport (old one expiring) won't reach me in time for our departure. After going back and forth regarding whether or not this was going cause problems, we finally decided to call the American Consulate in Nice and see what our options were. Kerri called them on Tuesday afternoon and talked with a lovely woman about our options. Long story short: the Consulate suggested I get an 'emergency temporary passport'.

Augh! Sounds complicated. How long will that take and where am I going to have to go for that? Marseilles? Paris?

Actually, nowhere. As I write this entry my emergency temporary passport is sitting in Nice ready to be picked up. It took about 36 hours for it to get to Nice. No papers to fill out or sign. No faxes. No extra photos. No spending 7 hours waiting in lines. I'll swing by and pick it up Monday -- in plenty of time for the trip.

So, any thoughts on the answer to my word anaology?
CJS