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My very dear "Le Gerfaut"
fans, as you all know, Mistral had been
invited by Magali, the webmistress of the "Official
Homepage of Laurent le Doyen" to attend
their fanmeeting and the launching of the
new founded fanclub of "Laurent le Doyen"! With such a prominent "Member of honor" none
other than "Juliette Benzoni" herself! When
Juliette Benzoni had learned through
Frédérique and Hélène (who could alas not
attend this time!), she
enthusiastically
asked to be registered as
a fanclub member!
With great pleasure, I had accepted to attend
the fanmeeting, and to become also a member
of the club. Smiling to myself, hearing voices
who might say: "and what is a "Catherine de Montsalvy fan" doing there? "To me, that
seemed no problem, since I love all books by
our favourite author Juliette Benzoni. At
the same time, the opportunity to make new
friends, meeting for the first time Magali,
webmistress like me and of course, without doubt, the
very great pleasure to meet the leading actor
of that wonderful TV-Series "Le Gerfaut"
Laurent le Doyen in person! Travelling
to France, to see again Frédérique of the
Juliette Benzoni Bibliography, with whom
I share a special friendship.
The date was set and I looked forward to
this surely amazing weekend at Versailles,
the home of "Le Gerfaut"! Alas, Magali, was not able to attend at the last
moment! For months she had organized
everything, so that the fans of "Laurent le
Doyen" would be able to share some
unforgettable days together. We all felt
with her and were able to understand
her great sadness, not to be there and enjoy
the company of fans and of Laurent le
Doyen. Magali, knowing how much I love
writing a report, had contacted me, if I
would be so nice and take her job of writing
a summary of the day. Of course I agreed at
the spot and Frédérique also volunteered to
support with photos and some creations.
Let me now express officially my personal
thank you, for all you organized dear Magali,
be it the entry to the area of Versailles,
the Grand and Petit Trianons, the
beautiful gardens and even the restaurants,
where we were able to rest our "strained"
feet.
But let me begin; we met on Saturday 8 May
at ten o'clock at the Hotel Angleterre.
The weather fairy had decided to be nice to
the "Le Gerfaut fans" and soon our little
group consisting of Emmanuelle, her husband Jean-Marc, Sophie our Versailles
expert ;-) Frédérique and I marched on to
the gate of Louis Quatorze, world famous "Castle
of Versailles"
Excited with
meaningful looks at each other, we stood in
line and entered this historical place. I do
not know how it is for my friends, but I am
always in awe and seem to be transported
into another time of period. Imagining
myself to be there, at the time when the
most famous of all the Kings lived at
Versailles, or seeing with my inner eye, the
mob coming and tearing down the gates of the
castle. In the hope to catch poor Queen
Marie-Antoinette and her lovable, but shy
husband King Louis Seize! But enough of
dreaming, inside the castle, we met Romy,
the president of the
brand new fanclub, a very faithful Le Gerfaut fan, together with
her sweet grandaughter Anaïs. Under
Sophies conduct, we visited the Gardens
of Versailles, stopped for a
photo-shooting,
enjoying the sun, being spoiled by lovely
Emmanuelle, who had brought home-baked
cookies for us. Merci beaucoup Manue, what a
grandiose idea! We walked on and soon it was
time to take lunch in one of the restaurants.
We got to know each other better and shared
anecdotes about "Le Gerfaut". Emmanuelle, in
the absent of Magali, taking her role as
lady-in-charge, had discreetly a look
at her watch! We felt how our puls was
beating faster -soon we would meet in
person
Chevalier Gilles de Tournemine, the
reason why we all had joined his fanclub!
There remained still time to buy some souvenirs, tension growing! We visited the
Grand
Trianon, admired the beautiful furnished
rooms and felt like in "Back to the Future"
stepped out of the castle, looking at
Emmanuelle, who smiled at us and said: He is
on his way... he is coming with the little train...
...and voilà,walking towards us,
a smile on his face, a charming,
and very good looking Laurent le
Doyen, our "Star" of the day. Some of us
had already had the great pleasure to meet
Gilles/Laurent in person. Mistral, who
pretented to be so cool, was now also a bit
"flutteringly" to meet the famous "Le
Gerfaut" in person ;-) What is my opinion
after he introduced himself to me? Only one
sentence: cher Laurent, you can count the
"Catherine de Montsalvy fan" now also to
your very faithful admirers ;-) !!
He joined us to visit the "le Petit
Trianon" following the traces of "Le Gerfaut"
joked with us, had a lovely word for
everyone, patiently stopped for a
photo-shooting,
which we naturally "shamelessly" took
advantage of! Surprised Frédérique and me,
as he sang to us, a few notes of a
terrific version of "I love Paris in the
Springtime"!. Let me say a few words to
Laurent le Doyen. In my humble opinion,
a very attractive, charming and pleasant
person - showing his pleasure that we are
his fans and that we loved his performance
as "Gilles de Tournemine. Sharing little
anectotes with us - helping us to find the
shooting places, which Magali, to entertain
us, had given us as a "treasure-hunting-mission"!
Yes Magali, we found everything, thanks to
Gilles or must I say Laurent ;-) - stopped
on the place where he had his duell with
"Ambassador
Caramanico ", witnessed by "Anne de Balbi" and
"Admiral John Paul Jones".
We never got tired to admire all the beauty
of the Garden. For example the "Le Hameau"
Queen Marie-Antoinette's refuge, together
with the one of the personality, who had
made "Le Gerfaut" so extremely popular years
ago, and never forgotten by the fans, who had
either watched Marion Sarraut's tv-series or
read Juliette Benzoni's four books! Dear
friends, I have no idea how many kilometres
we made on foot...!! We laughed and joked
about it, but would never have admitted then
and there that we would pay the toll later
on, for all this sauntering in one of the
most beautiful places on earth. Our hero had
an excellent idea (thanks Laurent for your
superb idea ;-) and showed us a short-cut...
I see, "Le Gerfaut" knew his way around at
Versailles... as the private bodyguard of
Queen Marie-Antoinette, he definitely
recognized the area again ;-) !
We decided to take now all together the
little train, to leave the background of
"Gilles de Tournemine. At the precise moment
we entered the vehicle, the sun went for a
little rest and sent the first raindrops
down to us. But what were a few drops of
water, compared to this amazing afternoon
together with the guest of honour? We made a
last stop, took the very last photos and I
noticed what an observant eye Laurent le
Doyen had. As some of you know, he is not
only an excellent actor, but also a painter
and photographer - and so
his eyes did not miss the unique moment, the
sky showed itself before we went out:
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We went quickly to the last stop of our
fanclub meeting - inviting Laurent to
join us in the car, while the sky had now
opened and sent us some showers. At the
restaurant, Magali had booked for us -
Armelle, another fan club member, was
waiting for us. She had not been able to
attend during the day, (just like Hélène, my
very dear friend, who spoils me sometimes
with her splendid creations of "Catherine
and Arnaud"). I am sure it was not easy for
her at the first moment, when seven happy,
all smiling, and chatting together, women entered.
Amid them, tall and handsome Laurent le
Doyen. But no worries, Armelle and the "Le
Gerfaut" fans understood each other at the spot.
We ordered our meals, Laurent found finally
out that little Anaïs had the whole day a
secret, she was hiding from him! I will not
betray it, for me that was so cute, and I
can tell all the fans of Laurent le Doyen,
he is a sweet and and lovable man. Not
forgetting to call Magali, in the
restaurant, considering how upset she must
still be, for not having been able to
attend. Grinning at Anaïs for her private
joke with him and answering patiently our
questions about his career. Telling us of
some of his future plans - joining JouJou
for a cigarette break - teasing poor Mistral
that it was now time to speak French! Voilà,
"vous êtes très charmant Laurent", I was at
least able to say to him ;-) My résumé of
that stupendous day? I hope that all members
of fan clubs are treated so courteously as
we have been, by this gallant and
well-mannered star of the memorable series
"Le Gerfaut"!
Thank you again chère Magali, for making
this all possible. Thank you cher Laurent
for sharing a moment with your fans. I shall
remember this founding day of the
very first fan club of "Laurent le Doyen"
with a deep gratification! I have been
welcomed by the "Le Gerfaut" fans with open
arms and I like to express my sincere thank
you for that. I am sorry that I was not able
to meet Magali and some of the other fan
club members, who were for different reasons
not able to attend the fan meeting at
Versailles. Believe me, "Le Gerfaut" and
with it Laurent le Doyen shall have a
special place in my heart, together with all
his fans. After all, we all belong to the
"La Benzoni/Sarraut family, or as Laurent
whispered in my ear "Mafia" ;-)
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Mistral,
Webmistress of the "Official
homepage Catherine de Montsalvy
books" |
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