Europe Tour-o-Matic II

Excerpts from the Travel Journal

Monday, 23 June 2008
Paris, France

We arrived in Paris yesterday, but I wasn't fully aware ofthe differences between Paris and the Italian cities we visited [Florence and Rome] until today. The light is completely different - the sunshine that buttered Italy in gold has given way to a crisper light, one that renders Paris in more of a greyscale. It's not gloomy, but the light - like the air - is cooler.

After last night's dinner, a group of us took the tunnel under the Place de l'Etoile to the Arc de Triomphe. It was that part of the early evening where the sun is low and accentuates any haze or particles in the air to give photographs a romantic blur. I was hoping to convince them to go up to the top of the Arc; the last time I was in Paris (November 2001) , I took this gorgeous photograph of the city from the top. Usually I'm not much for aerial shots, but from that relatively low height, you see a lot more detail in the rooflines and there's a lovely shot of the city that includes the Eiffel Tower. And the light was perfect for it. Alas, they didn't want to.

As if to make up for that missed opportunity, later in the evening, a few girls from the group asked me if I would take them into the city the next morning (today) at the crack of dawn so they could get good pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Well, after a country's worth of pictures in harsh midday sun, I was more than happy to agree to their offer, which I negotiated for a free Metro ticket and a bottle of wine [which still has not been delivered!]. We took off from our hotel at 600a and got to the Tower in dramatic sidelighting, with virtually nobody (save for some workers clearing leaves) in the Trocadero plaza opposite the Tower. We made some beautiful photographs, walked up the Champ du Mars, and caught the Metro back. Well, not before stopping at McDonalds for breakfast. The girls were so cute - even excited about the orange juice - and celebrated their first hot breakfast in a week that wasn't crusty bread.

I took our dear student to the Embassy this morning. We rode with the group to the same Metro stop, then they entered the Tuileries on their way to the Louvre, and we crossed the street to find the embassy. Even though I was missing the Louvre, I was happy to volunteer because I, quite honestly, really wanted to see an embassy, and anymore, it seems like you have to have a really good reason to go in one. The location on our maps didn't seem right - and I could tell we weren't in the right place because of the conspicuous lack of heavy security. Even the US embassy in Oslo had barriers that required you to cross the street - ours and Israel's. The sign on the door said that consular services had moved down the street, across the Place de la Concorde. So we walked in that direction, where the presence of armed guards and security fencing confirmed our bearings. I wish the students had had a chance to see this, to see the buffer zone our embassy requires. Maybe it's security theatre, but it just seems unfortunate no matter how you look at it. Anyhow, we got a replacement passport in under 3h and were able to rejoin the group at the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon.

[Public service message to readers who intend to lose their passport in a foreign country: a copy of your passport is invaluable, as is a copy of your passport application or birth certificate, if you have it. Unless you remember your parents' birthdates and locations (which our student did not), in which case you're probably fine without it. A police report of your lost/stolen passport may be required; the Parisian embassy did not ask for it, others do.]