Hello,
My initial idea was to offer my services to serve these documents on your behalf. However, having a dear Australian friend who was involved in a custody battle here in France with his French ex, I am a little acquainted with some of the differences between French and Australian law.
So, a few points, the key being the following:
Re : - speaking to the recipient to advise that you are serving documents for a divorce process and the advising of the court date. If the person disagrees with the service, you can put the envelope on the ground and leave : You CANNOT LEGALLY do that in France. If the person refuses to take the document, or if there is no one, you will not be covered.
The way to go is to hire a bailiff to serve the court document. It is not very expensive but they are the official agents who are covered if there is no one (at the KNOWN residence of your ex); they can simply leave a slip advising the recipient that they have been served, and you will be covered in court.
In any case, the way forward is a little complex but not undoable.
I'm therefore offering to assist you by coordinating this process from the French end, including finding the bailiff and organising affidavit and proof of service in English for your embassy in Paris.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss and explore the way forward. I'm just west of Paris in Normandy, but go there often enough.
Sincerely,
S.