As some of you might know, last month, I received an email by Gérard Chambre - in which he wrote about his latest
endeavours. Namely, a new musical, created by him by the name of "Le petit  groom de chez Maxim's"  with music written by Jacques Offenbach and an recital of French chansons on the "8ème Festival International du Palais
Bulles", au Théâtre Pierre Cardin in Théoule-sur-Mer.

I admit, when I looked at the flyers in July - still on my summer holiday in Italy - the thought crossed my mind: would that not be marvelous to go to see at least one of the performances with Gérard Chambre? At Lacoste with that ancient castle? Or even Théoule-sur-Mer on the Côte d'Azur? Back home in Switzerland, the vision going to France to see at least one of the spectacles did not leave me - no, it started to follow me everywhere ;-) The famous little voice we all have inside us, kept telling me, yes just visualize it! And how I did! Going to Cannes with my family, finding a hotel at this time of the year, high season with all of France and the rest of Europe on the road? No way...."rien ne va plus" .
That is, until last Thursday 6 August, when all of a sudden - my imaginary fairy godmother wanted to know how flexible  Mistral really is! Friday morning we jumped in our car (sorry no Ferrari, but a nice French Renault!) - with destination - Nice (Nizza).
The journey went well. Accept for a few minor hickups, such as my cellphone not working, when we really needed it the most!
(Who said the Swiss phone company is the most reliable?) Upon arriving in Nice - we could not find the meeting place, previously agreed with our host. My fairy godmother was so amused and whispered: "dear Mistral you are on a mission", who cares if you cannot find the supermarket Casino (gosh, who knew we were looking for a supermarket named Casino, and not a real Casino.)
 
After about two hours and a husband getting slightly nervous (nooooo it wasn't me, I can read maps, can I?), we finally arrived. By now I am sure you do not expect to read something out of the ordinary? I must disappoint you.
My fairy godmother (ahh... she really loves me...) had brought us to the most beautiful house I have ever seen! With a view looking down to the Mediterranean  - Nice , Cannes and as far as Théoule-sur-Mer! Also, I must not forget to mention our host. What a wonderful adorable person! Who was quite amused, when she learned of the purpose of my trip - and immediately started to support us in word and deed! A grand lady with a big gracious heart to whom I would like to say thank you again for all her encouragement and humor!

Saturday, 8 August and we are on our way to Théoule-sur-Mer. It is now ca. five hours before the concert, and I am equipped with my camera and the flyer I was sent by Monsieur Gérard  himself, in my bag! So far so good. However,  we couldn't find Théoule-sur-Mer!  We got lost in a place I shall never forget called  "Mandelieu" near Cannes.

And now I want to take the opportunity to tell you, that the French are very helpful people, speak English very well and won't let you down if you are in trouble! Thus we finally arrived. Only to find out that we had no clue, where the bus for Pierre Cardin's  Palais Bulles producer of the festival 2009 was leaving from! As you can imagine, at this point, there was not much time left to get on the bus at 7:30 pm! I am going to make it short; I can at least try ;-). After we had "toured" Théoule-sur-Mer (we now know every corner, every traffic light and managed not to kill any of the hundreds of pedestrians) we made it to the Office de Tourisme and were handed a map to find the parking spot! If you are wondering why this trip was so chaotic, let me tell you it wasn't our spontaneity or lack of planning but rather the fact that it is summer on the Côte d'Azur!

At long last there was time to relax, sit down in a lovely restaurant and have something to eat and drink. Sipping a glass of delicious French white wine, while enjoying the view and watching the swimmers in the water. Keeping an eye on time, we waved for the garçon to pay our bill. He smiled and we waited. He kept smiling and we kept waiting...until I had a picture in my head, of my husband's sporting a "Gandalf beard" from all the wait! I was not going to let this happen! After all I was on a mission to see Gérard Chambre!

Before we knew, we were running up a hill - arriving out of breath and secured the last two seats left in the bus.
I sat down next to a charming woman and we ended up talking. She told me that she had seen Gérard Chambre already two years ago, that he was brilliant and she could not wait to hear him perform again! She wanted to know if I had heard him before? Smiling I replied no, and told her that I was the webmistress of a fan website and had not seen Gérard Chambre live. But that I had seen him on television and heard him singing on a youtube video clip, that I had enjoyed so much and that I could not wait to see him perform tonight!

Shortly after we entered the Pierre Cardin's Palais Bulles . You should have seen this place! Absolutely breathtaking - it looked like a modern amphitheatre - and the view from our seats - was incredible! We took a seat in the fourth row, seeing that I did not have the courage to sit in the first row - because all of a sudden I realized where I was and what kind of guests were surrounding me! This was no more like sitting in front of my computer - chatting with LaLuna or my friend Frédérique, this was real!
When everybody was seated, we were greeted by an announcer, who introduced Gérard Chambre and the musicians. Seconds later, came the star of the evening Gérard Chambre most handsome looking in a white shirt and a shade darker pants onto the stage.
While I do not speak French very well, I understand quite a bit, however not when I am excited ;-) but he said something like he was very happy to be here tonight and thanked "Pierre Cardin" the producer of the show, at which point we all turned around and saw this elegant, unique and world famous couturier, sitting with us in the audience.

The show began. I will try to describe to you how it was, how it felt, to have the priviliege to listen to Gérard Chambre sing. To see the sky darken, see the stars appear out of nowhere, the full moon looking down at this spectacle - while all the while you hear ravishing beautiful music. Love songs, sad songs, poetry and chansons performed so expertly that you almost forgot where you were! We, the grateful public did not utter a word or a breath - so spellbound were we by Gérard's presentation! Splendid songs that we know from Charles Aznavour, Yves Montand, Charles Trenet  and additionally, some that Gérard Chambre had written himself! Ah... he was marvelous - fantastic! I have never seen Yves Montand, Charles Aznavour or any of the others live... but I can tell you, this performer had his audience enchanted!

Before the show we received a brochure with the lyrics of some of the songs. Gérard Chambre asked the audience to sing along with him! There are no words to tell you how awesome that was, and when we later sang with him "C'est si bon" ,"La Mer" or "For me, Formidable"  to mention a few of these so popular alluring French songs. We were under a magic spell, cast by Gérard Chambre and his band. They were all tremendously good. You have to take my word for it! The incredible atmosphere shared by artists and audience alike.

While I sat there, enchanted by this fascinating performance, all of a sudden I felt my courage leaving me. My fairy godmother had left me. Yes she had gone! I looked at my husband and whispered in his ear:"I changed my mind. I am not going to try and meet Gérard Chambre!"! He raised his eyebrow, grinned encouragely and replied "yes, your are." And that was that. I still felt like a scared child going to the dentist... but there was time till the end of the show.

Nearly towards the end of the soiree, a beautiful Asian artist, with a big transparent balloon in her hands, appeared on stage and started to dance. It was not immediately apparent what she intended to do. However, the girl showed us something so unbelievable with the balloon and it was now apparent that it was all part of an act. She vanished into the balloon, let down her long silken black hair, undressed and wrote with a pen "Save the Children of this world" dressed herself again and came out of the requisite with her hair up again! This final presentation was in perfect harmony and complemented the majority of the songs which were rather contemplative, in a exquiste way.

Touched by the scene and yet determined, I knew, this was it. I was, after all going to introduce myself to Gérard Chambre. A short wave to my husband and I was off to the front row, sat down and waited. Taking the last pictures and applauding one last time to Gérard and the band, I was trying to calm my nerves! And then I felt it! My fairy godmother returned! I straightened my shoulders, took one last deep breath and walked straight towards him. Politely, I waited for my turn, holding on to my flyer and pen, I kept rehearsing my line in my head. " Hi, it's me, Mistral", NO! "Hello Monsieur Chambre, I am Mistral" With what I was hoping was my most normal voice, I held my hand out and said: "Hello Monsieur Gérard, it's me Mistral"! He turned around, searched his memory and then he recognized me. With a surprised yet joyful expression he held my glance. And before I knew what happened he hugged me and kissed my cheeks. Oh là là!

We chatted for a while before I asked him if he would do me the honours and sign the flyer.To my great joy he agreed, and so I stood there smiling and watching him signing the now precious piece. Despite being a celebrity, an attractive, charming and polite person, he is very conscious of the environment. A real gentleman, who was delighted that a fan came all the way to France to listen to his songs and message!  

My husband then stepped down and took a picture of the two of us. So there I was posing with Xaintrailles/Jason/Gérard and yes, as it goes, Murphy's law...this is, unfortunately, the only picture that did not turn out well. Nonetheless, with all the beautiful memories of an unforgettable evening I think I can accept this hair in the soup, of an otherwise more than perfect adventure!
I would like to thank Gérard and his band for their outstanding performance and him personally for his kindness towards me.

Together with all the pictures of this unforgettable evening, I have included the autograph for you to enjoy as well.The dedication is a bit longer than what you can see. I hope you can forgive me that I cherish this for myself ☺

I hope I was able to capture your attention with my description of the trip to Théoule-sur-Mer  and my meeting with
Gérard Chambre. It has been an unbelievable and magical trip for me.