We ended the last story with Troy and I nearly “missing movement” when the Jonas Ingram departed Portsmouth, England to sail across the English Channel to Le Havre, France. If you did not catch that prequel to this story, here is a link to it.
Enjoying Being Alluring
Main Characters: LTJG Troy Jones, the new XO and Me.
Approx. date: Oct 1976.
Le Havre is the closest major port to Paris, which is about 140 miles to the east. All the officers wanted to spend time in Paris which meant they wanted to minimize the time they had to be on duty on the ship. Troy and I, of course, were restricted to the ship for our misdeeds and took many of the in-port watch duties of our fellow officers. They were kind enough to come back and tell us about how great Paris was. Urrrh.
About the third or fourth day in port, as the communications officer, I received a message from the US embassy in Paris for the new XO who had recently replaced CMDR Stephen Chadwick, one very sharp officer over whose eyes it was impossible to pull wool. Fortunately, the new XO was not cut from the same cloth. The message advised where the life raft we had recovered was to be delivered and also that there was top secret material that needed to be picked up from the embassy. (Communications related – no spy stuff.) I was the only junior officer on board at the time that had top secret security clearance. So, the XO told me that the next morning, I would need to go to Paris and drop off the life raft and pick up the top-secret material. He said that he had arranged for one of the senior enlisted men to go with me to help carry the raft. We would be going in the Citron the ship had rented for official business. Well, that was not going to be much fun. I discussed things with Troy. Would be so more interesting if the two of us went together. I ascertained that the enlisted man scheduled to go with me could not speak French.
Early that morning, I made sure the life raft was loaded in the trunk of the Citron along with a Fodor’s guide and a good map of Paris. I also exchanged for some francs. I then reported to the XO and told him I was preparing to leave. I said “You know, XO, I am a bit concerned about this trip. I am going into a huge city to get top secret material. As we know, the French are jerks to people who don’t speak their language and I am concerned about getting lost. I don’t speak any French.“ The XO asked the enlisted man if he spoke French. “No Sir”. The XO admitted that I had a good point and wondered if there was someone on board who could go who did speak French? “Hmmm, let me think. Why, if memory serves me right, LTJG Jones speaks French.” The XO announced on the intercom for Mr. Jones to report to his stateroom. Moments later Troy showed up in his dress blues. “Mr. Jones, do you speak French?” “Oui Monsieur.” “Good, I would like for you to accompany Mr. Treppendahl to Paris to ensure he does not get lost.” “Yes Sir.” Within 30 seconds we were in the Citron and gone before the XO could reflect on what had just happened.
We realized that if we did not return before dark, we would probably be shot. The drive to and from Paris would total about 5 hours. It would probably take us an hour to drop the raft and get the TS material, which we did first off without incident. That gave us about 4 hours to see Paris. The must sees were Champs Elysée, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. Here is a picture of Troy and me in front of the US Embassy.
You will notice that we both have our hands on a package between us: that is the box containing top secret material.
With Troy driving the Citron and me navigating using Fodor’s Guide to Paris, we zipped between the beautiful city’s iconic landmarks in record time. We had marvelous crepes at a little restaurant near Norte Dame. For supper, we stopped at restaurant right off the autoroute not far from Le Havre that was highly rated by Fodor. We had a marvelous dinner there with delicious wine. We made it back to the ship right at dusk. Troy had been practicing some French in case the XO had recovered from his gullibility gap. All the XO wanted to know was if had successfully delivered the raft and picked up the TS material. In hindsight, I expect he knew Troy and I were schemers and but did not begrudge our little bit of liberty in Paris, provided that we accomplished our mission – which of course we did.
In 2016, Coco and I spent a week in Paris. It was a much more enjoyable and relaxing experience, though it did lack a certain thrill that comes from doing something a bit furtive.