  Hipparcos parallaxes have recently become available for a sample of Galactic
Cepheids, and we have used these new distances to calibrate the Cepheid
period-luminosity (PL) relation at six wavelengths (BVIJHK). Comparing these
calibrations with previously published multiwavelength PL relations we find
agreement to within 0.07 +/- 0.14 mag, or 4 +/- 7% in distance. Unfortunately,
the current parallax errors for the fundamental pulsators (ranging in
signal-to-noise = pi /sigma_pi from 0.3 to 5.3, at best) preclude an
unambiguous interpretation of the observed differences, which may arise from a
combination of true distance modulus, reddening and/or metallicity effects. We
explore these effects and discuss their implications for the distance to the
Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Cepheid-based extragalactic distance
scale. These results suggest a range of LMC moduli between 18.44 +/-0.35 and
18.57 +/-0.11 mag; however, other effects on the Cepheid PL relation (e.g.,
extinction, metallicity, statistical errors) are still as significant as any
such reassessment of its zero point.
