Day 66 - Passportless in Paris

It's almost as though the universe read my last post and decided to pull out all the stops.

I say "almost", because this is not the universe's fault but my own, but the universe is an easier entity to blame - it doesn't tend to defend itself very vocally.

So yeah, it so happens that on my TGV from Frankfurt to Paris (during which I enjoyed stimulating conversation with Mark, the Canadian fellow seated next to me) I left my little document holder containing my passport, plane tickets, eurail pass and travel insurance information. It even had some mini matches that I had bought for my sisters from Salzburg, I had placed them there thinking, "they'll be safe here, I definitely won't lose this."

I've become very familiar with the staff in Paris Est's lost and found department, as well as the Australian Embassy (lovely place). After establishing that the passport could not be found (the cleaning staff didn't find it in the TGV apparently and the station where it went afterwards didn't find it either), I went about applying for an emergency passport. By this stage I had already missed my 10:30am plane to the USA, but I had cancelled it prior to take-off in the hope that I could re-schedule it for another day. Once I had my emergency passport I made my way to the US embassy to plea my case, thinking (naïvely) that I could stroll into it the same way I had strolled into the Aussie one, and have a chat to one of the staff members.

Apparently, this is not the case. In order to enter the embassy you need an appointment. In order to make an appointment you need to make a phone call. The phone call will cost you (before even making your appointment or asking any questions) €15. Following this appointment you may be eligible for a visa application. I didn't find out how much this cost, but I imagine it would be exorbitant. Once you've lodged your application it can take weeks to be approved.. so in the end, it didn't look feasible. I was very disappointed.

I hadn't slept in a few days either, one thing having led to another, so resilience was at an all-time low.

But, it doesn't matter. Quoth Mirjam, it can't be changed now, so I'd be better off looking forward and making the best of things, which I intend to do.

At least I can get back to Australia, at least my parents were able to lend me money, at least I am still alive and well. Some might say you know you're scraping the barrel of optimism when you revert to being thankful for your health, but I genuinely am.

Things don't always go to plan ("nothing happens the way you think"), in fact it's more interesting when they don't. Some of my favourite experiences have been impromptu, and everything from tomorrow onwards is going to be pretty impromptu !

:)