Yes, I'm keeping Expedia's feet to the fire as best I can. They've been dragging this out and clearly are hoping I'll just give up and go away.
I did reach out to the Elliott.org website. They have been helpful in fact. Just today they managed to get Expedia to take another look at the case. I also tried the local TV station and got immediate interest. Conde Nast = great idea.
I've also gone the credit card chargeback route for the original ticket. Not much but better than nothing. I'm also considering sending in a request for the trip cancellation insurance through my credit card (used to pay the original ticket). Long shot but worth a try.
AAR - I agree that the EC reg does not apply in this case, as it wasn't denied boarding due to an overbooked flight. However...before you get too excited about the price, realize that the ticket was purchased 3 minutes before close of check-in at the airport. Nothing can save you from a high priced ticket in that scenario. And staying in Paris is not cheap either, especially if you start considering things like lost work days.
Don't think you can amend a DOT or aim it at more than one company, so I filed another one and included the reference number for the original. That's two down (VA & AF), one to go (EXP). As far as I'm concerned they all deserve the ding for the shoddy way that this was handled. Why, for example, did AF not notify me (or Expedia, or VA) long before the flight that the ticket wasn't paid for? Or at least tell me this when I called the day before?