TO PARIS, THE LONG WAY
By Dan Miller
June 29, 2007
It was my first time ever in France.
I traveled there with my wife and daughter, and it was delightful.
But we didn't exactly arrive on the day we had hoped.
So I'll begin, emphatically, with this advice if you're planning to travel abroad:
MAKE SURE ALL PASSPORTS ARE CURRENT!!
We'd already checked our luggage at the Nashville airport, ready to embark on the vacation of a lifetime.
As we walked away from the airline counter, the ticket agent beckoned us back.... a warning light of some sort had popped up concerning one of our passports.
The news was not good..... my daughter's passport had expired!
My wife and I knew our passports were valid.... but we had simply failed to notice that a child's passport is issued for a shorter period of time.
The airline ticket agent.... a kind and sympathetic person....
contacted every source at her disposal to see if there was any way we could travel to Europe, with an 8-year old holding an expired passport.
There wasn't.
In these days of tight security, few countries allow anyone, child or adult, to enter without a valid, up-to-date passport.
So, we unchecked our luggage and went back to the house.
Once home, we worked on a plan.
A few hours later -- that same night -- we bought airline tickets to Washington, DC and headed out.
Beginning early the next morning, we spent many hours in long lines at the U.S. Department of State.
(see accompanying photo of Karen and McKensie on the sidewalk outside the State Department)
We quickly discovered that standing in line for so long -- in the sun -- can cause the brain to start toying with your imagination.
My wife became convinced that a road crew -- repairing the sidewalk nearby -- was actually a group of special agents keeping an eye on someone in the line.
I even started to believe it.
Could they be observing a suspicious 8-year old with an expired passport?
We may never know, but -- even if they were special government agents -- I must say they did a splendid job repairing the broken sidewalk.
Eventually -- mere minutes before I was set to abandon the Paris vacation plans and maybe head up to Buffalo for a few days -- everything worked out.
OK, so we missed a chunk of our scheduled time in Paris, but it's a city worth the wait.
More on Paris in the days ahead.
A quick footnote:
I asked my wife if she'd like to read this essay before I posted it.
She did, and expressed fear that I was going to "blow the cover" of those special sidewalk repair agents.
Quick footnote #2:
I just noticed something.
Does there appear to be a UFO of some sort in that picture I snapped of the Eiffel Tower?
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