Three weeks before my safari trip to southern Africa I realized I had only 5 pages left in my passport. The travel company suggested that each participant make sure they had at least 10 pages because each of the four countries would use 2-3 pages for visas. So I got on the phone with the American embassy in Paris to find out what I needed to do to get those extra pages. A very nice woman on the other end of the line recommended that I apply for an "emergency passport" and make an appointment at the embassy to do so. "OK," I said, and quickly filled out the online form for an appointment, which turned out to be Monday, November 20 at 8 a.m. That meant that I had four days to get there and it would require a couple overnights: Saturday night in Lyon with sisters and Sunday night in a Paris hotel around the corner from the embassy. In times like this, technology turns out to be a great asset. In less than 30 minutes I booked a hotel and a train ride to Paris. I already had tickets for the Lyon bus to take me to the Gare Part-Dieu train station where I would pick up a two-hour-long ride on the TGV.
At Friday morning breakfast I talked Eluiza into coming with me, which she agreed to do. It turned out to be a good thing that she did, as will become apparent throughout this account. We decided to drive to Lyon and stay at the sisters' house on Saturday night so we could catch the train from Lyon to Paris on Sunday morning at 9:30. This plan could then save a bit of time and money.
Once we made it to Lyon, our first challenge was to get into the sisters' house. We rang the door bell but to no avail. So we walked around town for a couple hours, found something to eat, and then returned to the sisters' house. It turned out that Sr. Rita, our hostess, had been there all along. Well, it is a big house!
My plan was to take the bus to the train station but we soon discovered that the C-13 was not running this weekend due to protest marches in the streets over the Gaza-Israeli War. Sr. Rita arranged a cab for us on Sunday morning, and we made it to our train in time to get a couple croissants, coffee, and make a bathroom stop. I paid 23 Euros instead of the 2-Euro bus ticket.
Our two-hour train ride from Lyon to Paris was smooth, easy, and comfortable. We were even able to sit next to each other after a couple people willingly gave up their assigned seats. We had time for a short nap and some reading.
We arrived at Gare de Lyon in Paris, which is a mammoth train station with much activity swirling about. Wherever you are going, it seems you must take a long walk to get there. Our first stop were the bathrooms, which took 15 minutes to find despite the small signs that pointed the way. It also appeared that there was only one bathroom to accommodate the hundreds of people passing through the station.
Then we looked for Metro line #14, the fastest route to the hotel. Following the signs to the Metro, we took a circuitous route through the station's giant halls and even near the trains where people boarded. After going back and forth in the underground to find our line, we finally learned that Line #14 was under repair. After asking a couple Metro agents how to get to the stop nearest our hotel, we were told that we had to take Line #1, which had a stop near Place de la Concorde.
Of course, the Metro ticket machine didn't work. Fortunately, we spotted a ticket counter with real people selling Metro tickets. I bought two round-trip tickets for each of us in anticipation of the ride back to the train station after my appointment at the embassy. Good thing, too, because after wandering around the Metro station and going through exit gates, the machine ate one of our tickets. Finally, we found Line #1 and pushed our way onto the very crowded train (as a woman behind me told me to do). We were on our way!
The Metro in Paris is one
of the best ways to get around town in a cheap and efficient way. Line #1 runs near the Champs-Élysée and once we emerged from the underground, we ended up
near this iconic statue of
Georges Clemenceau, the prime minister of France during World War I. Television coverage of the November 11 Armistice Day commemorations included a visit from the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, who layed a wreath of flowers at the foot of the statue. The wreath was still there when we arrived.
Across the street from the Clemenceau statue was the Élysée Palace, the "French White House" where the president of France lives and works, one of the guards who surrounded the palace told us. It was built in 1718 and its style of architecture and attention to security make it the most fortified place in Paris. It is located near Embassy Row and the American Embassy on the Place de la Concorde end of the Champs-Élysée. Our hotel was supposed to be right around the corner from the embassy.
The hotel is situated within the sight of the Eiffel Tower. But, of course, we did not get that room. Our room only allowed us to see the top of the tower, which still provided a pretty spectacular view, particularly at night when the tower is all lit up (see video below). Eluiza later discovered that the lights go dim around midnight.
Sundays are horrendous days to travel in France. Nothing is open--even in Paris! We had picked out a Turkish restaurant as our choice for a meal, but soon discovered it was closed. In fact, around our hotel everything was closed: restaurants, shops, cafés. What do traveling people do for food on Sundays? Fortunately, the concierge suggested that we try the grocery store a few blocks from the hotel. Since that was our only choice, we went. It was 3 p.m., and we were very hungry after having eaten only a light breakfast at 9:30 a.m. When you travel sometimes you just have to make due with what is available.
Our "gourmet" Parisian meal for Sunday lunch and Monday's breakfast
Our chic table setting featured a wash cloth on the bed as our plate
After lunch, we rested in our room for 90 minutes. Around 4:30 we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood and find the American embassy so that we would know where we were going the next day. What we would see was astonishing not only in terms of the iconic Parisian monuments that are always astonishing, but with regard to the traffic on the street. It was as though the city came alive after a sleepy Sunday afternoon.
Because we were near Embassy Row, there were all kinds of exclusive stores. What was bizarre, however, was that they were all open and ready for business at 5 p.m. I couldn't help but pose with a few of them.
After finishing our window shopping, we turned the corner twice and were on the Champs-Élysée with the Arch of Triumph on one end and the Place de la Concorde on the other. Of course, the Eiffel Tower was in full view as was the Marine Archives Building. Breath-taking sites in pictures. Unbelievable in real time--even in the silhouetted early evening.
Although all was well, I was still a bit miffed that we could not find any hot food, so when I saw a hot dog stand (on the Champs-Élysée no less), I staged a little protest and bought a hot dog with ketchup and mustard. The "bun" turned out to be a hollowed-out baguette. This little meal was OK, but I've never eaten so much bread as I did on this weekend!
On our way back to the hotel after our little sight-seeing tour, we located the U.S. Embassy and asked the guards where we should report the next day. Here is a photo of the embassy.
On Monday morning, dark and early, Eluiza and I made our way to the embassy at 7 a.m. because Eluiza's past experience with embassies is that the line gets very long very fast. It was better to be at the head of the line to wait for the embassy to open than to be at the end of line.
As I passed through security and made my way to the hall of "cages", I noticed that there was not one American guard. Sometimes it was difficult to understand the guard's English.
The check-in for my appointment was fairly simple. Since I was looking for an "emergency passport" the window for conducting business was not as crowded as the renewal of passport window was or especially as the visa windows. There were scores of people waiting by the time I completed my business, so Eluiza's advice turned out to be right on target.
While I expected to get an "emergency passport" as the woman on the telephone suggested, the man at the window advised me that he wasn't sure the four countries I was visiting would accept the "emergency passport". He knew for certain that France wouldn't. That meant that I might not be able to visit each of the four countries on the itinerary, and, I wouldn't get back into France! So the agent suggested I get a renewal on my passport. He thought he could send it to Washington, D.C. and get it back in time to mail to me before my trip commenced. OK, I said, and I went to the window to pay my $130 fee. Passports are good for 10 years, and I still had three more years to go on the one I had. However, this plan of getting a new passport was fine. At least I was assured passage to wherever I went.
The agent told me my passport would be mailed to me, and I could track its delivery process. He had me write down the tracking number, which started out as 5Z. Unfortunately, I read it as 52 and therefore was not able to see my package moving through the system. This would cause me much stress for two weeks. The other problem I encountered was a false notification that my passport was ready but that I had to pay an additional .48 centimes within two weeks or else it would be sent back to its place of origin. Apparently some creepy person hacked my email address and tried to goad me into giving him information so that he could tap my French bank account. This happened to me once before in the same way, and I lost a couple hundred Euros. Fortunately, I reported this fraud to the bank and was able to get my money back.
My appointment at the embassy took about an hour, and I exited the building rather jubilant because I got what I needed. Outside the embassy was a very long line of people waiting to get in just as Eluiza predicted!
The two of us went back to the hotel and waited a couple hours until the time came for us to take the train back to Le Puy. Only this time, instead of trying to take the Metro, I ordered a cab to take us to the station. Less stress and worry. And, at this point money was no object.
We left the hotel at 11 a.m. and had time for coffee once we reached the station. Our train was on time, but there were hoards of people coming and going to and from the trains. That's the way it is with the TGV. We boarded the train, found our seats, and just relaxed for the next two hours. I had time to read almost a complete Atlantic magazine.Once we reached Gare Part-Dieu in Lyon, I decided to hire another taxi to take us back to the sisters' house where we parked the car. We arrived at the sisters' house, got in the car, and took off for home. I always have trouble navigating the streets in Lyon, however, thanks to the GPS on our car, we were able to swiftly and efficiently navigate through Lyon and back to Le Puy.
It had been a whirlwind trip to Paris and back. It had cost a lot but it was absolutely necessary to get my passport changed. Besides, we had another unforgettable adventure in France.
P.S. I did get my passport on time through the mail exactly one week before my flight to southern Africa. It is valid for 10 years and goes until 2033. It may well take me through to a time (age 82) when I will no longer need it because my travel days will be over. But then again, maybe not!
P.P.S. During my trip to Africa, border crossings only used 4 pages of my passport!
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