Musharraf in Paris

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, after visiting President Bush in Washington this week, took a trip to Paris to visit a personal physician and to have some routine medical tests conducted.

Not so unusual, you say. Why not stop in Paris on the way back to Pakistan? Maybe enjoy a fine French meal, too, before heading on to the home country.

Well, believe it or not, we're not talking about Paris, France, here.

No?

No. We're talking about Paris, Texas. As in, out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere (even by the standards of those of us who live in Texas) Paris, Texas.

Gen. Musharraf spoke by phone during an unannounced trip to Texas on Saturday to undergo routine medical tests and visit with a personal physician.

He arrived at Paris (Texas) Regional Medical Center in the late morning for a checkup with cardiologist Arjumand Hashmi. Hospital officials said Gen. Musharraf was "found to be in excellent health."

After the president had his checkup, he attended a lunch in Paris before departing for Dallas. Later, he visited the doctor's Highland Park home.

"This is a beautiful place you have here," he said of his first visit to Texas.

Dr. Hashmi said he was simply "meeting an old friend" when asked about the high-profile patient on Friday.

"It's a private visit," he said "There's nothing to it."

Interesting. Not sure why he needed to travel all the way to Paris, Texas, to undergo routine medical tests. Kind of unusual, if you ask me, but who knows? Perhaps Dr. Hashmi is an old friend of the General's from Pakistan, so Musharraf thought he would stop by while he was in the "neighborhood".

It's not every day that the President of Pakistan, a major player on the current, worldwide political stage, pays a visit to little old Paris, Texas. No doubt, some locals were taken by surprise.

In both Paris and Highland Park, the cloak-and-dagger visit generated a buzz in two normally sedate small towns.

A motorcade of more than two dozen cars, including state trooper vehicles, Secret Service cars and a Paris hospital ambulance made the trip from Dallas to Paris mid-morning.

Phillip Hamilton, managing editor of The Paris News, said that about 20 people, including at least one other Paris physician, were at the house and dined with Gen. Musharraf.

He said the Pakistani president stood up to say goodbye shortly before 3 p.m.

In retrospect, maybe those reports of people seeing Osama bin Laden in the area aren't so farfetched after all.