Interesting conversation with a young woman in France.

[Scruffydog777]

Well I'm on vacation in France.............................again. I arrived in Paris monday morning, drove down to the Chateau du Chambord in the Loire valley, then drove down to St-Nazaire where I spent 2 nights. I chose St Nazaire because I'm a WW 1 and 2 history buff and I it was the site of a famous commando raid to blow up the dry dock. It also has several U boat pens.

At the hotel I stayed at, there was a young woman, I'd say about 25 +/- 3 who was minding the desk, running the bar which was empty and helping out with the restaurant which was close to being empty. I asked if I could get a beer or 2 in the bar and she said, mais oui! Actually her English was pretty decent and we talked for quite a while.

One thing we talked about was sports. She said she had played basketball as a young girl and was a big fan of it. She knew America was famous for it but knew none of the teams. Well you just knew eventually I would bring up the subject of Alizee and I did. I asked her about Alizee and she knew Moi Lolita very well, but suprisingly couldn't remember J'en ai marre.
But she described Alizee as a very young, very sexy singer. When I talked last year to a Lufthansa flight attendant who was born in France about Alizee, she too described her songs as being very sexual.

But as was the case with several people I've met in France in the past few years and this is something I've heard several other people mention,and that is that most people in France have no idea that Alizee is still singing.
I told the young woman at the hotel about the autograph session last year and I told her about AAm, but that was pretty much the end of the conversation about Alizee.

The next day, I drove up to Lorient to see the U boat pens there and a French submarine they have on display. As luck would have it, I must have entered the wrong location into my gps and wound up at the waterfront, but with the U boat pens no where in sight. Well I saw a young man, I'd say 27 +/-5 standing next to a sail boat. I asked him if he spoke English and if he knew where the U boat pens were. He did speak English and he said he was going over there in his boat with his freind and asked me to come along. Well that was the chance of a lifetime so I jumped on board.Once again the topic turned to Alizee. Both of them were well aware of her, but once again, had no idea, she was still singing.

Well I found that depressing. I returned to the same hotel in St Nazaire to spend the night. I had 2 busy days behind me and wanted to get to bed early but I wanted to get some internet work done first, but I couldn't get on line. So I brought my laptop down to the bar and once again no one else was there except for the woman working the bar and being another slow night, she seemed happy to have someone to talk to. Well I told her about my net problems and nothing she did seemed to fix it.

So we gave up on that and I showed her the tv episode of the autograph session in Paris. Then my curiousity kind of got to me and I so I showed her some other Alizee videos and asked her if she had ever heard them. I showed her Tempete, Amelie m'a dit and Coeur deja pris ( the video I had put together) and you could literally see her jaw hit the floor. She was amazed. She had no idea Alizee had sung such beautiful songs Could that be the problem in France? So much was done to promote the sexy side of Alizee, they didn't know she had such a beautiful side to her singing.

Well I told her I'd send her a Celtics jersey and a DVD and cd with Alizee's more beautiful songs on them.

Funny thing is when I got back to my hotel room, my internet connection worked just fine.

[ALS]

Funny thing is when I got back to my hotel room, my internet connection worked just fine.

Scruffy, she shut the Internet off so people would come down to the bar and talk to her as well as spend some money. :D

Smart woman.

[lefty12357]

Thanks for the report Scruffy. I envy you!

What you said sort of supports what I have said in the past, especially regarding Alizée's last 2 albums. I don't think it is a matter of the French public not liking those albums. It is a matter of the French public having never heard them.

Now maybe they wouldn't like the albums if they did hear them, but at least they should have gotten a fair hearing. I still believe Alizée would have sold more if she had better promotion and better exposure to the general public. I don't know if it is the fault of the record company or the media, but without that kind of exposure, it will continue to be hard for her.

[Aldighieri]

Very nice travelling experience Scruffy..
About Italy all the persons I know, remeber only the "lolita" international acting (2001-2002?) I can understand this, Italy is a very little market in music industry... In general, I presume that "cut off" the sexy exposure, like the last album promo, was probably a problem.I don't mean she don't looks sexy(she's so much) but the kind of escalation of "sexual" contents in music at present day,just delete artists who don't get a massive vulgar sexual showing same way as Rhianna, Gaga, etc. Media corporations just want that. And so young people do.

[User22]

Nice report Scruff :) its cool to hear of peoples travels and the people they encounter, especially when they speak in Alizée!

Have a safe rest of the trip!

[Taxi Driver Aaron]

Nice report Scruff :) its cool to hear of peoples travels and the people they encounter, especially when they speak in Alizée!

Have a safe rest of the trip!

I am learning to speak Alizée!

She had no idea Alizee had sung such beautiful songs Could that be the problem in France? So much was done to promote the sexy side of Alizee, they didn't know she had such a beautiful side to her singing.

I don't think Alizée was promoted effectively.... she's got such an amazing voice, in fact that is how I discovered her!.... I didn't know what she looked like when I knew I liked her.

[Rev]

Thanks Scruffy. It's good to hear about your travels in France.

[C-4]

Dave,
So nice to hear that you are getting around France as much as you have been.

I appreciate your posts to keep us up-to-date on everything.

I believe everyone here is correct in stating the promo for Alizée has not been what it could have been.

Sometimes, what is available to you in your "own back yard" is not seen, or being made aware of, and that is the sad part.

May you have a safe and continued enjoyable trip. And thank you for sharing your wonderful French experiences with us.
Stephen :hello:

[Karin]

It wouldnt be strange for me that they dont know songs from Psychedelices and UEDS... but JEAM which was her first single from MCE and then En Concert, when MCE an EC promo was (I think) much bigger as by Psyche...

but nice report Scruffy :)

[ALS]

I just think it is just so sad that Alizée's music has been ignored by the French radio stations. Alizée in that interview in Mexico said there are so very few French singers known outside France. Yet here the French media who should be promoting are ignoring one of the hottest French internationally known singers. (BTW Hottest as in well known.)

There's an English correspondent Charles Bremner who writes for the Times of London who reports from Paris, I forwarded him a poll of the 100 hottest women about two years ago. The poll had Alizée listed at 25 and Carla Bruni Sarkozy at 86. He wrote me back and was embarrassed to say that Alizée was walking around right under his nose in Paris and he had no idea who she was.

Knowing what we know about Alizée I can not believe that the French don't use her more Internationally to promote tourism in France. Ajaccio should be using her many quotes in their ads over seas that it is her favorite place to be. How many of her fans around the world who never would have thought about vacationing on Corsica, would take a serious look at visiting it in the future.

If not for Alizée being born there and mainly her fathers beautiful photographs, Corsica, has become one of those must visit places, in the near future.

[Euphoria]

4 year hiatus is what "killed" her career (I don't think it's quite dead yet). MCE was starting to move away from the super sexy image, remember she only performed J'en Ai Marre in the sailor suit a handful of times. And while J'en Ai Marre is probably her most memorable performance, it certainly was not her best selling single. A lot of fans of Mylene is what originally made them fans of Alizee - she just did not have enough time to really establish her career and a strong fan base before she left for so long.

I wonder if spending so much time out of the limelight has made her shy. I think performances really boost her confidence and make her happy, which is why I really want to see her at the top again. I can imagine it's difficult to find that balance of busy career and personal/family time, but it is possible.

[Bigdan]

4 year hiatus is what "killed" her career (I don't think it's quite dead yet). MCE was starting to move away from the super sexy image, remember she only performed J'en Ai Marre in the sailor suit a handful of times. And while J'en Ai Marre is probably her most memorable performance, it certainly was not her best selling single. A lot of fans of Mylene is what originally made them fans of Alizee - she just did not have enough time to really establish her career and a strong fan base before she left for so long.

I wonder if spending so much time out of the limelight has made her shy. I think performances really boost her confidence and make her happy, which is why I really want to see her at the top again. I can imagine it's difficult to find that balance of busy career and personal/family time, but it is possible.


100% agree. 4 years out and a vague new positioning create a big trouble in her carrer.
I though the same thing about her "shyness", as I remembered her performance at the Hotel de ville in Paris (JEAM 2003)and the seeming self confidence she had, at this period.
Nowadays she feel sometimes uncomfortable, with her voice but with her body too. ( in comparison with her Mylène period I mean).

[Un-rêve]

But as was the case with several people I've met in France in the past few years and this is something I've heard several other people mention,and that is that most people in France have no idea that Alizee is still singing.



That's true.. well at the very least Moi... Lolita was a phenomenal hit and Alizée will always be remembered for that! The song was in the Top Ten singles chart for many months back in the day as we know and that's something I'm sure she will always be proud of. Sure she is known for that song more than the others but many will never realize she still had the No: 1 with L'Alizé a beautiful song in itself and JEAM from her second album also went to No: 4 in the charts. Well my point is that she was never a one hit wonder! :mad:

Nonetheless you either love her or you don't! Rihanna and Lady Gaga are in the media all the time but I never had the urge to buy one of their albums and I'm sure many others haven't either. Anyway nice report Scruffy!



Knowing what we know about Alizée I can not believe that the French don't use her more Internationally to promote tourism in France. Ajaccio should be using her many quotes in their ads over seas that it is her favorite place to be. How many of her fans around the world who never would have thought about vacationing on Corsica, would take a serious look at visiting it in the future.

If not for Alizée being born there and mainly her fathers beautiful photographs, Corsica, has become one of those must visit places, in the near future.


I feel the same.. well I spent two weeks in Ajaccio in 2005 and a week there in 2007. I saw other parts of the Ile de Beauté but Ajaccio was the place I loved the most. It will always be the most special of places for me and I hope to be back there oneday. :wub:


I can imagine it's difficult to find that balance of busy career and personal/family time, but it is possible.

Que tout est possible, c'est Amélie, qui me l'a dit... :)

[lefty12357]

100% agree. 4 years out and a vague new positioning create a big trouble in her carrer.
I though the same thing about her "shyness", as I remembered her performance at the Hotel de ville in Paris (JEAM 2003)and the seeming self confidence she had, at this period.
Nowadays she feel sometimes uncomfortable, with her voice but with her body too. ( in comparison with her Mylène period I mean).

Yeah, I agree with Euphoria too. I think those 4 years cost Alizée a lot, career wise. It cost her both in lost fans and in lost confidence. If she had been around for those 4 years, she would have gradually evolved into her new position and slowly left her old position behind. Her fans would have probably followed along with each small step of the way. But it could be that those 4 years also helped Alizée establish her personal life on a solid foundation with her marriage to Jérémy and the birth of Annily. I suppose that was her priority.

Practicing everyday can help a lot with the confidence issue, but getting media exposure and acquiring fans is much more difficult. I truly hope she finds a winning formula with her new album.

[Scruffydog777]

Well I didn't expect anything Alizee related to happen on this trip, but a few things have, so maybe I should ask one of the upper mods to change the name of it to Vacation 2011 or something to that affect.

I'm in Brussels tonight and returning to France tomorrow. I got back late from Arnhem ( A bridge too far). After washing up, I went out to get some dinner. I stopped in an area that had several small restaurants and bars. I had trouble finding one that was still serving food. I finally found one that was like your typical bar/restaurant in the states so I stopped in and had a bite and a couple of beers.

Well I noticed on the wall they had a small flat screen tv that said DJ matic in the upper corner. I asked the bartender about it and she said she can access just about any song through the internet. I said hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I asked her if she could play requests and she said she could. Well I requested Coeur deja pris by Alizee. She looked and she didn't have it. But she had a list of about 20 Alizee songs, including several from her last 2 albums. Well of the songs I saw, I requested A contre courant. It's the first time outside of the Virgin Megastore that I've heard her voice in Europe. That is of course outside of my rental car too.

I felt it would be rude to ask for another, but after that 3rd beer kicked in, I lost that inhibition and requested another. This time I requested J'ai pas vingt ans. After that Parler tout bas came on. Well I had to go, because I have a date with a certain building tomorrow that I don't want to be late for.

The interesting thing about the DJ matic is, I looked through the songs that were listed for Alizee and the songs Coeur deja pris, Tempete, Amelie m'a dit and Lou ou toi were not on it. I consider these to be in the top 6 of her most beautiful songs. How could not one of them be included in this list? I just don't understand it.

Just a side note, when I first sat down at the bar, I heard the song womaniser come on, then I heard the song Joe Le Taxi, which I think may have been a remake of the one originally done by Vanessa Paradis.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JmDRDR9GONU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Merci Alizée]

^ That's not a remake. It's the original song by her only. She is just 15 in that video. Although I haven't listened this song in last few months, I feel like I'm listening to it after many years. :blink:

[Scruffydog777]

^ That's not a remake. It's the original song by her only. She is just 15 in that video. Although I haven't listened this song in last few months, I feel like I'm listening to it after many years. :blink:

I know the video I posted was an original, I meant what I heard in that bar didn't quite sound like Vanessa, so I thought maybe someone else might have redone it. Then again the sound system in this bar wasn't the best.

I said before I should have made this a vacation thread, but I think this will be my last post in it.

When I was visiting Monet's garden while on vacation, I went into the Giverny Impressionist Museum which is right next door and of course includes many of Monet's paintings. It also has several other paintings by other artists, including Renoir. In fact their was a portrait done by Renoir of Monet's wife Claude while she was reading. The second I layed eyes on it, it reminded me of Alizée. I would have posted the picture sooner, but you're not allowed to take pictures in a gallery like that and it took me a while to find it on line.

There was also a painting by Monet called Tempete which I wish I could get a copy of.
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/3808/54masterpiece.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/54masterpiece.jpg/)

[Aldighieri]

Camille Monet? You are not obsessed..she looks having some in common...
http://img218.imagevenue.com/loc897/th_050802044_Camille_Monet_1847_79_in_a_Red_Cape_1 866_122_897lo.jpg (http://img218.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=050802044_Camille_Monet_1847_79_in_a _Red_Cape_1866_122_897lo.jpg) http://img146.imagevenue.com/loc55/th_508023782_Pierre20Renoir_477844_122_55lo.jpg (http://img146.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=508023782_Pierre20Renoir_477844_122_ 55lo.jpg)

[FanDeAliFee]

There's an English correspondent Charles Bremner who writes for the Times of London who reports from Paris, I forwarded him a poll of the 100 hottest women about two years ago. The poll had Alizée listed at 25 and Carla Bruni Sarkozy at 86. He wrote me back and was embarrassed to say that Alizée was walking around right under his nose in Paris and he had no idea who she was.


I cannot help but recall a recent BBC podcast about life in Paris. It revisits the sad world which the famous English man of letters George Orwell knew 80 years ago. There are very many important stories to be told about Paris - and London for that matter - and not all of them are as pretty as Alizée.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/docarchive/docarchive_20111007-1242a.mp3

[Scruffydog777]

I cannot help but recall a recent BBC podcast about life in Paris. It revisits the sad world which the famous English man of letters George Orwell knew 80 years ago. There are very many important stories to be told about Paris - and London for that matter - and not all of them are as pretty as Alizée.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/docarchive/docarchive_20111007-1242a.mp3

Welcome to the forum! I guess just about every major city in the world has a sad side to them. Still too many have nots in the world. Hopefully in Paris, and many other cities too, Alizee has brought a bright spot to their lives that they might seldom see otherwise.

[mzracing76]

MUSIC is like WOMEN

Certain people like blondes over Brunetts

Certain People like Pop over Electric/Rap/Country, etc

The Radio Stations only play what their "top 50" is and nothing else, which is boring. If they dont like Alizee, they wont play her music. they are favortismists. (new word)