Documents needed for French Naturalization

I'm in a cleaning mood.  I'm happily throwing out lots of papers I've hoarded for far too long, but before I throw out this I thought I'd share the contents with you.  It wasn't easy to compile this list.  It took me a while to find out the requirements by visiting one organization or another and/or talking to different civil servants in France.  Some say you need to see a lawyer, but almost no one does.  It's a waste of money.  Anyway, here is the list of paperwork you need to become a French citizen.  It's for asking the "privelege of being naturalized French".  If you marry a Frenchman, have French blood, or were born in France there is a slightly different process.  In those cases you are asking for the "right of being naturalized French".

French Naturalization
1)  Fill out the naturalization form (twice).  It's found on the gouv.fr site or available at any prefecture.  It takes a lot of time to fill in.  They ask for extensive information about family, studies, jobs, lifestyle.
2)  You need an original certified copy of your birth certificate with an Apostille on it (official seal from the state in which you were born).  This all must be translated into French by an official certified translator.
3)  You also need a copy of your dad's birth certificate, your mom's birth certificate, plus their marriage certificate.  All of them must also be translated by an official certified translator too.
4)  A copy of your original foreign passport
5)  Four photos of a certain size (don't remember, but you can get them easily from any photographer in France).  The photomaton machine at the Prefecture is fine enough.
6)  A photocopy of your "titre de séjour" or "carte de résident".  You must have lived in France legally for five uninterruped years.
7)  Three years of work contracts and payslips.  The contracts must indicate salary, starting and end date, and job occupied,  Slips guaranteeing monthly unemployment allowances also count.
8)  Go to the Trésor Public in your French town and ask for a "Bordereau de situation fiscal" for the last three years.  This proves you have paid all the types of taxes you need to pay and you are in a good situation.  For this you must go to the National Treasury Office
9)  Photocopy of your "Avis d'imposition" for the last three years.  This is a document also related to income taxes and revenue that you can obtain at the Income Tax Office (le Fisc).
10)  Photocopy of rental contacts for the last three years or documents showing you have bought a house.
11)  Photocopy of EDF bills (electricity bills) for the last three years or telephone bills for last three years.
12)  Copy of a bank statement from your French bank
13)  A "Extrait de casier judiciaire"- a police/ military document certifying you have committed no crime in the last ten years.

14) After you have taken those documents to the Prefecture and they have been approved, you will be told to schedule an interview with the French Gendarmerie (National Police, equivalent FBI/CIA) which will be a thorough investigation into your background.   (This is the most stressful part, but goes well if you have nothing to hide). They will ask many personal and professional questions.
15)  You must schedule an oral exam at the nearest prefecture to prove fluency in the French language.

These were the requirements as of December 2013.  Perhaps they have changed since but I doubt it.  It has been the same for many years already and the government is reluctant to amend this.  Hope it can be of some use to somebody.  So, yes, once again, France is a nation of paper and bureaucracy.  Do not get rid of any important document.  It could come back to haunt you.  If your goal is to become French, start thinking about this a few years in advance so you can be sure to have all the required documents.