Meeting Alizee at the dance Studio in Ajaccio September, 2018
 

Back in the spring, I was thinking of going to Ajaccio to see a couple of places I hadn't seen, but also with the hope of seeing Alizee at her new dance studio. I had sent them a couple of messages via FB of my intentions of dropping by the studio and hopefully buying some shirts, but I never got an answer from them, so I went some place else instead.

So this fall, I decided to go back for the same reasons. I figured I'd go to their studio even if I couldn't get in touch with them. So I arrived in Ajaccio yesterday. I tried to find out the hours of the classes so I could hopefully be at a time I wouldn't be interrrupting a class.

Today, someone saw a post by her relatively early in the day where she was there. Then someone else found they had classes until late. I was afraid maybe her and the others there worked in shifts, she worked the early part of the day and someone else the rest, so I wanted to get there relatively early.

After thinking about just showing up with no notice, after confiding with some other members here, I decided to have a woman at the hotel call the studio which she did about local time. There was no answer. The woman said she'd notify me by e-mail (there was no phone in the room) when she heard back.

So I went back to my room to wait. It was just about this time the jet lag hit me. I was dead tired and couldn't stay awake. I laid down and set my alarm for 30 minutes, but was so afraid I was so tired it wouldn't wake me up. Well it did and I did that for about 2 hours. At that point, I decided to get dressed and check in with the girl at the front desk at 6. If she hadn't heard by then, I would go anyways.

Well 6 rolled around and she hadn't heard back and she said she tried calling again with no response. So off I went.

I caught a cab to bring me to the studio. I really thought Alizee probably would have left by now and someone else would've taken over. But to tell you the truth, I was far from sure the place was actually open.

We arrived at the front of the studio and the front doors were wide open......great sign. Then I saw an older man go up the stairs with must've been his daughter. Another great sign, meaning if I interrupted a class, I wouldn't be the only one.

So I walked up those steps and they took a turn to the left. I walked up a shorter set of steps and just about the time I got to the second level, I looked off to the left over the wall that seperated those steps from the second floor and I saw the unmistakable hair style of Alizee.

It caught my by surprise and kind of overwhelmed me because I really thought she had left by now. I walked up to the counter she was behind and found it hard to talk. She left the counter at that point to do what, I forget. But she came back and I showed her the letter I had written explaining how I wanted to buy some shirts for the members of our forum. She explained to me that they had none left in stock but I could order some.
I said that would be fine and at some point gave her my order

I said I had some pictures from a few of our members that I wonder if she could sign and she graciously agreed to it and she started signin the pictures
Around this point Greg came out who was in the middle of a class with a bunch of I'd say late teen young ladies. He was covered in sweat and obvioulsy very busy but agreed to allow a picture of him be taken with Alizee, though he was surprised I wanted one with him in that condition.

So after that, Alizee signed all the pictures I wanted. I only pulled out a few at first, afraid she might be too busy, but she was so gracious about it, I pulled out a few more. There was one point where I had a picture where I wanted both her and Greg to sign. She went into the class to ask him to sign it, but he just didn't have the time.

So she came back out and signed some more of my pictures. I think she would've signed a hundred if I had that many, but soon, Greg came out and asked her to help out and she had to leave.

They were both very gracious to me. I explained to them how I had tried to get the woman at the hotel to okay it with them before I came out, but she couldn't get in touch with them.

I have to say and just about everyone in here who knows me, knows I call them as I see them and I'm telling you the videos don't do this woman justice. She's so beautiful to seee up close and in person.

I'll proof this later so forgive any mistakes.

Amazing! Glad to know, you manage to see her! She is actually very kind! How many pictures he signed after all? :D

Have you any pictures with her?

I had the same feeling after seeing her in Warsaw when I found her in the city and asked for picture. Amazing girl! Beautiful woman. Just Angel.

I've never had the pleasure of meeting Alizée but I imagine it's something one is never really prepared for. :fear::omg:

Thanks for sharing Scruffy, I hope you post some of those pictures and from the rest of your trip! :clap::2_thumbs:

I have to say Amazing as well! You used the word "gracious" several times. That is good to hear.

I cannot even imagine this, but I will take your word for it. :)

One of two things will happen now that it is nighttime in Ajaccio. You will either not be able to sleep because of what just happened today, or, you will sleep like a rock because of what just happened today. No more worry about how and when to show up, what their response would be like, and so on.

Just curious. You had prepared a letter that you obviously translated to French, but I'm sure there was some kind of communication after that. Did you try your hand at some French, or did she understand a little English? Like the part where you explained how you tried to get the woman at the hotel to contact them first.

I had prepared a letter about what I wanted to do, but I explained what I wanted to do to give her advance notice of me going there and she seemed to either understand it or know of it.

There's one big regret I have here. At the end, I had asked her to say hello to Alizee America. That was a point where she could've gotten away from the chore of signing autographs and worrying about using the black pen or the silver pen. She leaned over the counter and said it, but apparently I screwed it up. I think I had it on record and shut it off instead of turning it on and the best video was lost. Do I dare going back there and it asking her to say it again?

Edit:

I didn't really ask her when I meet her to take a picture with me. I have kind of a low opinion of myself. In fact in the past, when I've met her, on some occasions, I didn't ask her to shake my hand, but as I was leaving, she offered to shake mine. I was surprised and remember it well!

Edit:

I will share some videos but probably after I get home and have a chance to edit them.

Do you want my honest opinion? I say don't do it.

You probably had one of the best days of your life. Everything just fell into place. We know her heart was there when she said it, and even though it did not come out, we have your word that she said it. That is enough for me.

I say enjoy the rest of your activities in Corsica and leave satisfied of what just happened. My opinion.

I would say don't do it, now it's time for you to enjoy your vacations !

Enjoy my vacation????........I got this grin from ear to ear I can't get rid of!

Great. It worked out perfectly. Let it be over. :)

I am so glad for you, that it worked out so well! I would also leave it at that and enjoy the rest of your holidays.

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Edit:

Later that night I had dinner at the Chez Paulo restaurant. This is a picture Blanche gave me of her and Alizee when they participated in an event to raise money for the Marie-Do association.

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Edit:

I had rotated some of these photos on my computer but for some reason they are coming out sideways when I upload them. I'll correct that when I get home.

Edit:

Better!!!!!!

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Were her dogs there? :)

Edit:
I think we posted the same time. The pictures came up in the thread after I pressed Submit.

Alizee is just gorgeous. Yes, Gregoire is pretty sweaty there!

I love my signed picture!

Nobody else was there in the way of dancers or family.

Against my deepest trepidations ( I always wanted to use that word in a sentence), I decided to go back to the studio today.

I had mentioned how I asked her to say hello to Alizee America and I had screwed up and it didn't get recorded. That was a very big regret for me because I filmed her when she was signing the autographs and she was busy attending to that chore, but you don't really see then the beauty that comes out when she smiles. It's just a game changer.
But most people here said I shouldn't go back and as depressing as that was, I decided not to go back.

But yesterday I got an e-mail from Ghislain Rossi who runs the AIFC Facebook page. AIFC is one of the biggest if not the biggest FB pages out there. He asked me to get an autographed picture for him and for the members of AIFC.

Now Edsel can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he said a couple of weeks ago that the AIFC site was in danger of shutting down. Now that might not surprise me because I have known Ghislain for years and it wouldn't be the first time he's talked about shutting the site down.


So I saw this getting of a couple of autographed pictures for them as a big opportunity to keep that site going.

Even so, I was still troubled in doing this, but then I realized that when I left an order for some shirts the other day, though I had given her my physical address, I did not give her an electronic device for us to communicate by. Were we to talk about this order and exchange credit card info via regular mail? So that was the tipping point. So I decided to go back.

Talk about fated. I didn't know the schedule of the studio. I didn't even know if they'd be open or if Alizee would be out of town. But I decided to catcha 4:30 bus. I got there in plenty of time but by 4:45.....no bus. The next bus was scheduled at 4:50.....by 5:00.....no bus. Mean while all these other numbered buses kept coming and going....2 or 3 times for the same numbered bus! I decided to walk down to the next stop. There was a large group of people there, but when other number buses came by, only one or two people got on. The mob was waiting for the 2 bus.

So the 2 bus finally comes along. I got on though there was little room. End result, I wind up getting to the studio just as about 15 people who were standing around outside started going up the stairs with Gregoire!

So I followed the crowd upstairs and there she is.....again! It looked like these people were registering for a class. A couple of people would go up to the counter and sign something and Alizee would give them something in return and then they'd leave.

There came a moment after about 5 minutes where I saw an opening and went up to the counter. Alizee greeted me graciously again. I had a prepared sentence in Frecnh saying I'd be quick "Je serai tres rapide". I told her about the contact address. Then I told her about the two pictures I wanted to get singed for AIFC. I asked her if she knew who they were and she did. Then some more people came in and she asked me to excuse her for 5 minutes. So I stepped back a ways and it was only about 3 minutes before she came out to me ready to say hello to Alizee America again. This time I got it right.....I think.....I'll upload the video in the next several minutes.

Though I think 'maybe' it bothered her at first, it went so quickly, I doubt if she'll remember it.

But if that bus had been on time, I would have arrived there when the studio was closed and they didn't have any sings on the outside, so I probably would have left...

Edit:

I was unable to upload the video to YouTube, so here it is from my drive...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s6p...ew?usp=sharing

Why did I have this nagging feeling that you were going back today to get her to say it again? :13: Because I have that kind of superpower I guess! :D

Actually now I am glad you did it. I got it downloaded. What a beauty! Thank you Scruffy!

So you saw Alizee two times in as many days? You are like a regular there now. Maybe sign up for a quick dance class before heading back to the States? :)) I'm kidding but in a way I am serious. What would you pay for a single lesson on ballroom dancing with Alizee? (I would pay up).

Looks like the last 24 hours has been pur-fect. :)

Even if Alizee was my instructor, I don't think I'd take a dance lesson at this time of year. There is no a/c in that building and only what looked to be a couple of small fans too.

Thank you!
 

I’m new to the forum, but that video is fantastic ! I’m so glad you went back. Thank you for sharing!

Well, I doubt if Alizee would give private Ballroom dance lessons anyway. Just doing a little dreaming I guess. :)

At a cooler time of year, I'd pay any price for one dance with her.

Thank you Scruffy, awesome video!

Great going Scruffy. Some small things in life have great value. Because she was speaking English at the Warsaw concert, I was wondering if she had taken the trouble to learn the language. Did she speak any English to you?

She looks so ordinary, and then she smiles.

The hairstyle of hers in the video is not in my top ten list, but still, I am just amazed how stunning she is. Even the first second or so when she is waiting for the signal from Scruffy, the lighting in the room is pretty bright, she is wearing her everyday clothes with minimal makeup, and she looks 24, not 34. Then, as you said, she smiles, and the world is a better place :)

She must be enjoying what she is doing career-wise, and things must be going good at home. The last few years, happiness has been written all over her face. My favorite pic from DALS last year.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...922/h2u47T.jpg

To tell you the truth, it's tough to find anyone who speaks English well here and if the people around her don't know English, I think it would be tough for her to learn it well. Though I think she knows well the English connected with her work such as I know well many of the words that are used in more than one of her songs, However if you asked me to read the French constitution or her to read the U.S. Constitution, we'd both be lost.

I asked her the other day when I went to get those 2 pictures autographed for AIFC if she knew of AIFC and she said she did know who AIFC was.

So like I said, she can handle an English conversation that stays along the line of her work. Get away from that and she's just like us with our French.

Edit:

I wanted to point out that in one of the pictures I had autographed for me which is the picture of her in Japan. I had actually placed this picture on a white back ground with a large white space at the bottom for her to sign in with a black sharpie, as I had recommended others do after experimenting with some pictures. but before I knew it, she started signing on the picture part and not the white part of mine with the silver sharpie. I just cropped out the white part for the picture I posted in here. It came out decent.

As I mentioned earlier I had 2 pictures autographed yesterday for Ghislain Rossi and AIFC. They were 2 pictures I had left over from the day before. One was the full size version of the picture I had signed for John. In this picture you can see the name Alizee is almost unreadable and that's what I was worried about.

The other picture I had left over that I had signed for them was a full sized Japan one. Now that came out good, but it's very dependant on what angle you view it at. I also didn't like how it overlapped her face.

I think for future reference, if you want the signature to stand out, you either have to do it the way I suggested or do what Robert Rhein did and chose a picture in which a black sharpie, which is best, will stand out.

As far as her hair style, from what I saw before I came here, I didn't like it at all, but in person, it looks good.

The same goes for her tan. In the video, she almost looks pale, but as usual for this time of year she has a very nice tan.

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Thanks a lot for the video, it's really sweet :)
It must have been a great experience to meet her, twice in a couple of days no less! :dance:

It was a really great experience the first day. The second day was dampened by the fact I should've gotten everything done the first day and I felt I was being intrusive, but there would have been a tremendous sense of disappointment on my part if I didn't go back. However, I was in and out so fast that second day, I doubt if it bothered 'her' that much at all.

Okay today's quiz is something Ghislain Rossi brought up in FB. What did Alizee say in her autograph for my picture? I think it says "redrum".

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Ha! That's pretty funny! I cannot make out the letters.

I still have yet to figure out what she wrote between my name and her signature. I will translate it later, but for now I'm hoping it translates to "Call me!" :)

Is it not bisous? That's what was on a lot of the other autographs we've seen

Looks like it now that you say it. Kisses. Nice.

kisses :)

How's the rest of your vacation going Scruffy?

I still think mine says redrum.........jk.

Here is the video I shot of the her signing autographs. Now at this point, Greg had come out of a side room with all the young female students in tow and was headed for the main dance room and stopped to talk to me.

Him and Alizée were very gracious about it. I apologized for interrupting a class and he said he was in the middle of a class, then after congratulating him on DALS and mentioning Les Enfoires, he excused himself and disappeared into the other room with all the students.

So Alizée started signing the photos for me and one was of the moment they one DALS and despite Greg being out there and saying politely that he was in the middle of a class, she still went into that room to try and get that autograph and you can see Greg takes her aside so I don't think he was too pleased with what she did and I certainly don't blame him for that because these students are paying for his time, but I think this is one of those moments that shows you the true nature of this woman. She tried hard to fulfill a fan's request.

I sometimes wondered whether all those little waves she did to the fans were something genuine or something MF had trained her to do and this shows, those waves were because of who and what she is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ukDn...ature=youtu.be

A member had asked me to put the pictures in my drive so others could see the full quality of them so here is the link to those pictures in Google drive.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...4X?usp=sharing

Great video! You recorded her signing my photo, so it's almost like I was there! :)

Her English is not too bad.

It's possible Greg took her aside to find a surface on which to put the picture to sign it. Even so, it's surprising she would interrupt his class for something so trivial.

I love the way she says "With the black one?" at 0:23 with her heavy French accent. I think she is studying English. Perhaps not, she could pick up a little here and there.

I'm kicking myself for not asking you to get her signature for me. I debated asking and then got distracted. By the time I thought about it again, you were on your way.

The video is also interesting because it's the first time I've heard your voice.


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2519

Once I finally had some time to think about it, I was surprised you didn't ask me. As it turned out, I could've got some for about 10 people instead of just 4 including myself.

As for Greg signing the picture, he didn't sign it, so I think she was chastised and it wouldn't be the first time he's done that......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9-Y-l8ot_c

I wonder what the "Police Dept." thing on the counter was about? :13:

Under the JPVA picture

Could you please add video of her signing autographs and this photo? Thank you!
http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/atta...9&d=1537428794

Well I made it on to this clip back in 2010, plus there was the video of the private session too.


http://youtu.be/gdmF6KbBLGU?t=103