[Event] Autograph session FNAC (2013-03-29)

[Merci Alizée]

^ Yes we have changed that option. You can embed videos by just posting URL.

Btw, this was probably the first time you talked to her, right? How was it? It might be interesting read. Would you like to write a blog about your trip?

[Alizée@Rügen]

And finally my photos











More are here:

http://www.chris-corse-photography.c...z%C3%A9e-2013/
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...5439244&type=3

[lapinschous]

Originally Posted by Alizée@Rügen

And finally my photos

Dat lipbite

[Saerdna]

Originally Posted by lapinschous

Dat lipbite

YES, that was my first thought as well.

[Fall]

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos and videos guys, they made my day

And yes. Dat lip biting.

[Jenny_HRO87]

Originally Posted by Merci Alizée

Btw, this was probably the first time you talked to her, right? How was it? It might be interesting read.

I spend ages on writing it down...

so here's a small (wait, small ???) report from that day, it's more or less a copy from my post at AF... with a few changes.

So how was the autograph session? it was great but also a bit terrible because I was so overwhelmed by everything… ok let’s start from the beginning…

So Chris and I we arrived after a 14 hours trip – well we lost around 1 1/2 hours because of the traffic in Paris, I will never get used how the French drive – on Thursday evening around 8 p.m. On the next day we meet Miguel (Amigo) near the record store and then had to wait for Scruffy in his hotel (which took a while) and later went back to the store to buy some CDs for the autograph session in the evening. And so I got a photo beside a poster for the autograph session, there were 3 posters – one at the escalator, one on the shelf with the CDs and one in the room where the autograph session took place.



Ronny (RMJ) joined us around 1 p.m. and we wandered around a bit and around 3 p.m. we met Scruffy again in the Fnac because he wanted to talk to the staff if they could organise another private autograph session for AAm but I guess you already know all this so I won't repeat that story...

Well anyway Scruffy might have told you already that they left us to go and ask about the private session and Chris and I stayed and waited and I had a really nice talk with a French girl from Alsace, I don’t really remember her name I think it was Molwa or something but I could be totally wrong. She’s was right in front of us and in my video she's the last fan I filmed. She already met us and the others in the store earlier and asked where we came from and she was really surprised that we came from Germany and the US just for Alizée. She told me she really likes the new album, she liked UEDS too but it was more a kind of experiment and she really preferred the new album (same for me) and she was hoping that “5” will do better than the last one. She was also a bit upset that the French always think about Moi.. Lolita when they think about Alizée, that she still has this image even if she has grown up for a long time (well I and we all knew this already but hearing it from a French fan was different and even a bit more upsetting). She told me that she hoped this will change with this album because it’s really mature and Alizée also because of Alizée’s latest appearance on TV, she said in the past she was more coming to shows to perform something and not more and now she’s coming to some shows also to talk about different topics and she hoped people would see that and finally realise that she’s not a girl, not a Lolita anymore but a grown-up, mature, smart woman.

So before everything started we had to wait on a pretty uncomfy staircase because the autograph session took place in a separated part on the top floor and there was an extra entrance for this (we didn’t know that when we went up to the top floor for the first time but a member of the staff asked us if we were here for the autograph session and told the French girl that we have to go down and then we saw a piece of paper outside on the wall of the building and there was the information that we needed to go to another entrance… actually I guess Miguel and Chris already had noticed that there were Alizée fans standing outside…), so we waited there, then the others left Chris and me and later they let us in, but not all at the same time only in smaller groups until the place was crowded. When we came there I guess 30 people were in front of us, even more I didn’t count. I would like to know how many actually went there. The group right in the first row was from “Alizée France”, they all came together and as you already saw they even got a group photo with Alizée later... I guess around 16:30 they started to play the new album and the peeps from Alizée France all started to sing along and later chanted “Alizée, Alizée” together so they all were in a really great mood and it was fun.

Alizée finally arrived around 17h and as you already noticed, she looked really stunning, simple black outfit but really beautiful. A girl nearby was so happy when she saw her, she started to cry a little and I'm glad that I didn't even if this could have been me... at first Alizée posed a bit for the press and we couldn’t really see anything because so many people were in front of us. So the first 15/20 minutes or so we could hardly see her.

But the ambiance was really great and as you already saw in the videos and the photos - she took the time for everyone, they all got a photo with her if they wanted (and everyone wanted a photo) even group photos... some got cheek kisses if they asked for it and she made funny faces or her Victory sign for the camera and she was incredibly nice to her fans. And there was a really adorable moment when a man brought his little son and took a photo with him with Alizée, it was really cute.



Chris and I also talked to another French girl (well more or less because her English was not so good and my French isn’t either so the conversation didn’t really flow) but Chris asked her if she could take a photo of him and Alizée with his camera - originally I wanted to go first and Chris second but the girl was worried that she wouldn't manage to do a proper photo with his camera – to be honest I was worried too I’m just not used to use such big cams, I have my little Nikon and I’m happy with that and I kept telling Chris that I’m scared that I would drop it or that I would ruin the photo. So we changed plans and he went first, I took the photo of him and he took the one with Alizée and me later from the other side of the room (I still look horrible on it argh) and also one for the French girl. She already met Alizée oncem it was 2012 in Monaco and she had the photo she took this day with her and wanted to ask her to sign it. She was surprised when she showed me the photo – she only told me that she met Alizée once, nothing more - and when I said that I knew that photo and knew exactly where it was taken because I remembered someone posted it in the forum. She was really happy that Chris took a photo with her because she went to the autograph session alone. She’s the one on Chris photos right after the photos with us, when Alizée made a grimace for the photo.

So… it finally was on me to go to the table and what can I say I felt like I was going to die… I mean I already was nervous before (the French girl from Alsace asked me if I was because my hands were already shaking a little while we were waiting) but when Alizée was right in front of me it was so much even worse, it was like it just hit me that this was really HER like *BOOM*… I was suddenly shaking so badly and I thought I would die and when I said “Salut” to her my voice was trembling really really badly and I think I was just so overwhelmed by all this… I'm so glad that I didn't start to cry Alizée might have felt so uncomfortable. So my voice was still trembling terribly when I said to her "j'ai un cadeau pour toi" (I got her a present and my friend who went with me to the Enfoirés concerts (AlizéeFee) and couldn’t come gave me a present for her too) and I gave her the bag with the presents in it (on the last of Chris' photos there’s a little orange bag with flowers on it on her table, that was mine) and then I switched to English and told that I’m sorry and that my French is "très mauvais" and if she would sign something for me and my friends. I had 3 albums to sign and two photos. So I gave her the first album which was for me and I told her (I tried to talk to her in French) that it’s for me and my name (I wrote all the names down before the session to make it easier for her and also because I can’t spell in French) and then I gave her the photo that I got for my friend and she signed it for her and I said “c’est pour ma copine" etc. So she also signed all the other stuff for me - I don’t know how many times I said “merci” and also “c’est très gentille” to her for this - for the last one I even didn't had to tell her the name of the person I wanted the autograph for because she already read it on the little note where I wrote down the names... then I was finished and then out of the sudden she asked me in English – there were these small photos on her table, from instagram - if I would want one of these too. I was so perplex that SHE was asking ME if I want another (and I was already worried that I would bother her with my 5 autographs) so I just said yes or oui or whatever and took the first two photos that where right next to me and just asked her to sign one for me and another for my friend (the one who got the second autograph and she was really about this little extra and so I got a signed photo of Alizée and I didn't even planned to get one) She really signed everything people gave to her, some people even brought 5 or 6 CDs, a lot brought stuff from the past years, a few the hat box... I probably could have got some more autographs for some people but now it’s too late.



And then I could take my photo with her (but my smile looks so forced, I look horrible, probably because I was so nervous… and I should have taken my jacket off and put the bag near the window or something but I simply didn’t think of that…) and so Chris took the photos and I took my stuff and wanted to say good bye to Alizée but then she was talking to someone who just came to the table (I don’t know if it was someone from the staff or a friend) but I didn’t know if I just could go or not and I didn’t just wanted to leave neither because I wanted to tell her a proper goodbye and I wanted to wish her good luck so I waited a few moments (I hope she didn’t thought I was rude for not leaving) and said “Au revoir et bon chance avec ton nouvel album” or something similar and now I don’t remember if she said “bye bye” or also “Au rêvoir”. But she was smiling and really really cute.



And then it was over and I still felt like dying and I had to wait for Chris because he took the photo for the other French girl and then we went outside and I still was so excited and there were some other French girls outside and they saw us and we talked a little bit (well kind of they were just curious and Chris told that he would upload photos on his photo page – self promo ^^) and then I went outside because I seriously needed to sit down somewhere – Ronny and the others were still in there – and we went to Starbucks downstairs (I mean I don’t like Starbucks but I simply had to sit down somewhere, I was still shaking).

Later we went back to the store to meet the others after Miguel texted me to come in because they would close the store soon – Alizée was still busy signing autographs later when the store closed and that was at 8:30 p.m. so she was there for more than 3 hours and a half! I’m sure her hand hurt like hell after all this. But someone in the French forums wrote that she told during the autograph session that she wants to do more of these session, at least 5 all over France and I really hope this will help her to sell more albums, I really hope people will appreciate that. It would be cool. I already saw that they album dropped in the iTunes charts **triste

So we finally went outside and some of the French fans from Alizée France who were there right from the beginning came down and a few of them – especially one guy – were really good in English so they asked us where we came from and we talked a bit (well the others did) and then he asked if we would like to come with them. So we spend the evening in a restaurant with Mexican food (fun fact: if I remember correctly it was a restaurant from the same restaurant chain that we visited when we did the fan meeting in 2008 in Paris... and were I found out that I love enchiladas) and it was a really nice evening. After we were finished Chris and I left because we went back to our hotel while Ronny and Miguel went somewhere else to have a drink.

Well and then the evening ended surprisingly annoying… (and if you don’t want to hear this not Alizée-related story just skip the next paragraph)

Because we couldn’t get into our hotel room! We got into the hotel and everything but the chip card for the door of our room didn’t work, instead of the green light that shows that you can enter there always was a red light when we removed the card and we couldn’t open the door!! And NO ONE was there, the receptionist already went home. I was so pissed (and you don’t want to come across me when I’m pissed because I swear a lot and can be so annoying…) But we found a number at the reception that you can call when there’s something urgent and I called this number and after I made sure that it really was the right number I told the problem and the guy on the phone said he would call me back (to be honest I’m actually a little bit proud of myself that I managed it to talk to someone on the phone in English without a lot of problems because I am not good at this and not really confident… but well we had no other choice… no offence but Chris’ English isn’t that great ) and so I waited and waited and waited for more than half an hour but he didn’t call back! so I called again and he said he did call me back but I didn’t pick up (but my mobile didn’t ring, there was nothing) and he said he would call me back right now when I’d hang up… but even after ten minutes he didn’t call so I called again and he said I didn’t pick up the phone again. But this wasn’t true it simply didn’t ring. It was weird. So I told him that it simply didn’t ring and if he please could just tell me what to do because I was on the phone anyway. So he said I should go to the entrance hall (well more of an entrance room) and there was a check-in machine that is for check-in 24/7 when no one is there and he gave me a code and with this code I could get a new card from the machine but not for the same room so we spend the night in another room and couldn’t get our stuff, I didn’t even had a toothbrush, I was so unnerved because of this… that’s also why we didn’t go online after the autograph session and in the morning the receptionist was even 45 minutes late and he was the only one who could let us in. But then he finally arrived and we could get in our room only problem was the internet didn’t work so I couldn’t say anything about the autograph session...

Yeah I will definitely never forget this crazy, wonderful and omg-I-am-gonna-die day…

This post is too long…

And now I really have to go to bed or I will fell asleep in front of my laptop...

[Taxi Driver Aaron]

Jenny.. first off... that was a great write up and analysis of your experience!!... I am jealous as %*#&#&!!!

Regardless. I am thankful to be getting such details of the autograph session that you were able to provide! It is the closest experience I will probably ever get to being there. Thank you!

Aaron


Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

[Wizard]

Jenny,

thanks for sharing this! I could really sense your emotion and you did great job in giving us a terrific account of your experience!

[ALS]

That was a great story Jenny I'm glad you had a wonderful time meeting Alizée.

[Ray4AJ]

Skip down to the second paragraph for the actual event description…

It’s going to be hard for me to match the other members’ descriptions of the event. They’ve covered the logistics of it well, so I’ll skip that. For me, being there was really special. It’s just been 11 months since I discovered Alizée. The way I feel about myself has dramatically changed since then, and I attribute that to her, somehow. I can only guess how that happened, but I’ve stopped analyzing it. I see a really good person inside her, and to try to pay her back I try to support her career. Watching videos, En Concert, all the interviews and reading about old interviews and translations has created that image of her that have. I was having a bit of trouble fully believing that image because I know that what viewers see is only what you are shown, and sometimes that can be misleading. I suppose it’s been important to me to find out that she is ‘real.’ I got a slight confirmation of reality a few weeks ago when I got the Talents France Blue CD and posted a picture of it on Instagram. The next morning I was happily surprised to see that she ‘liked’ the posting. It was as if for just a moment, she had let me know she was real. I know, it sounds corny, but Scruffy and Jake can confirm that I am. I had been thinking about going to an autograph session since she announced the album on the ‘live’ Q&A video that came out last summer. At first we thought it would be in October, then it kept being delayed. I never wanted to go to Paris, or Europe, or anywhere. I was fortunate that right now I was able to take time off from work and afford the trip. I felt that if I missed this opportunity to ‘meet’ her that I would regret not going. So off I went. During my connecting flight from London to Paris, I kept thinking that I could not believe I was actually going to France. Scruffy met me at the train station and on the ride into town, I kept saying the same thing. Even though I was able to see many of the famous and significant sights of Paris, I was there for one reason. That came the next day at the FNAC Saint Lazare . So I wouldn’t be disappointed, I never thought we would get a private session with Alizée. I hoped we would so I would be able to get a lot of great pictures of her. But I knew I’d be happy just waiting in the regular line. Scruffy has already described the ups and down of the lead-up to the session. So it was off to the regular line for me.

We were in the room already when she made her entrance and we caught a brief glimpse of her entrance, but were too far back to see her posing for the cameras. It was really exciting to know she was in the same room we were in. They had the ropes set up like a back and forth queue moving side to side through the room, so the front row was a 15 minute show just 10 feet from her. From the back though, we were all holding our cameras up to try to see her up front. Finally I gave up and just waited until we got closer to try for some camera shots. There was so much excitement among the fans. It was amazing once we got to the front row. Just watching her interacting with each fan as if they were the only two people in the world. Everything I had thought about her seemed to be true. I’m amazed that she did it for 3.5 hours. We started discussing who would take each others photos when the time came. Loose plans were made. Closer and closer to the front of the line. It almost seemed like my turn came too quickly. I wasn’t really ready. I had written my name on a slip of paper. I remember saying I had come from the USA to see her, and she pronounced my made perfectly. She may have said something else but I don’t remember. I had written a short note in a card, and I had found a Tinkerbell bookmark a few weeks ago that I included in an envelope which I gave her (It appeared in the photo she posted! Yay!) Then I handed my camera to the manager guy and went around right beside her for the photo. I hadn’t set the camera right and the photo didn’t come out too good. So for a moment in time, I was in the same place as she was. So she’s about as real to me now as this keyboard that I’m typing on. I threw her a ‘merci,’ grabbed my camera from the guy, and just sort of drifted away out the exit. When I got back into the store, I was in a daze. No one else came out for several minutes. I guess I could have stayed with the group but they had been forgotten. (Sorry guys!) Then it was back to waiting to see about getting the 80 CDs autographed. We thought there was a chance that would happen after the line was gone, but it did not. I got the impression that they would all be signed though later this week.

Now, she’s real, and I feel like the impression I had of her was accurate enough. I spent some of the 8 hours on the plane yesterday thinking about it all. I realize that I still really know so little about her, but I’m as certain as I can be that she is a nice, thoughtful, and caring person. And that’s all I need to know. Her depth, her tattoos, her fashion choices, how she spends her free time… None of that matters to me. I just want to support her and her career by helping other fans learn about her and keeping her in people’s minds and hearts. She knows more about her industry and career and what she wants to make of it than any of us, and she does what she wants to do, no matter what we want. Not that there is anything wrong with us discussing how we feel about those things. We just have to realize that we aren’t going to influence her in what she does. It’s like she is driving the fan bus, and we can get on and off whenever we want. It goes where she takes it, take it or leave it.