Macon couple turned away from US Embassy after Paris attacks

Will and Rebecca Bogle couldn't find a cab. Their server at the restaurant had said the explosions were about 10 minutes away. Rebecca is six months pregnant, and they had no way back to the hotel.

Bogle's cell signal was fading in and out. The couple from Macon, in Paris to celebrate Will's 37th birthday, decided to make the two-mile walk to the U.S. Embassy, there to seek shelter and wait out the horror in the city.

Emergency vehicles screamed down the street as they walked. The couple didn't know precisely what had happened or whether it was still happening. They finally made it to the embassy, safe at last on American soil.

The embassy wouldn't let them in.

The American who met him at the gate said he was sorry, but Bogle and his wife couldn't come in to shelter there. He recommended walking to a hotel.

"I was pretty disheartened that we weren't allowed to get in, and my wife is six months pregnant, and we had to walk so long," Bogle said. He also thought, "If you're going to close, be closed when it is sunny outside and nobody needs you."

The State Department did not respond to calls or emails on Saturday asking why the American embassy was closed to Americans.

The Bogles -- Rebecca goes by Hill-Bogle -- told their story after arriving in Atlanta from Paris on Saturday afternoon. After Bogle navigated their way back to their hotel by using the Paris Metro, the couple had packed and left town. He said Delta worked with him to change to an earlier flight. Not 24 hours after they'd walked up to the embassy in Paris, they were back in Atlanta.

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 10:31 PM with the headline "Macon couple turned away from US Embassy after Paris attacks ."