One Night In Paris

On November 13, 2015, Terrorists Unleashed Horror And Mayhem In The French Capital In A Series Of Coordinated Attacks That Left At Least 130 Dead And Nearly 500 Injured. Former U.s. Ambassador To France Jane Hartley Recounts Her Experience On One Of The Countrys Darkest Days In Recent History

- Jenna Krajeski

My husband, Ralph, and I had just finished dinner when Yvon, the head of my security detail, rushed into the restaurant. “We have to leave, now,” he said. He looked grim, which was new to me. I had been in Paris for a little over a year, serving as United States ambassador to France and Monaco under President Barack Obama, and I thought of Yvon, a former Paris cop, as affable and a lot of fun, my greatest protector as well as a pleasure to be around. Driving around the city, he and other members of my security team would argue happily over whose hometown was superior, trying to convince me that Dinard, Gordes, or Montpellier was more beautiful and had the best food and the nicest people in all of France. “I love it all,” I would tell them, and though I’m sure they thought I was practicing my diplomacy (I was a political appointee with no diplomatic experience, so I had to learn on the job, after all), it was true; every part of France seemed extraordinary to me in its own way.

“We haven’t paid the bill,” I said to Yvon, looking for our waiter.

“What about dessert?” Ralph asked, reaching for the menu, wanting to make our date last. When I moved to Paris, Ralph had stayed in New York, and I looked forward to his visits as a time to disconnect from the embassy and remember what could, in my new life, seem distant. Not that long ago, I had been working as the CEO of an international economic advisory group, living in New York, where Ralph and I had raised our daughter, Kate, and son, Jamie; where a fat old cat owned our living room; and where framed photos of Christmases and birthdays packed the tables. Now I was in Paris alone, trying to live up to the role of ambassador while planning Kate’s wedding from afar.