Paris Friday 26th of September (part 1 of 5)
It was decided since the spring that we would travel to Paris. Flights booked early and tickets to the event booked at the same time.
Estelle and Céleste would stay home with Grandma and Grandpa and me and Eva-Lena would go alone to the romantic city . Or maybe not alone. We would meet up with many friends from different countries and continents , for the event of Alphaville’s 30th year anniversary. I had booked a taxi to the airport unearthly early to take the plane to Paris and met up at the airport with lovely Leena Aho.
Once down in Paris we met up at the airport with another two good friends , Lisa and John . They had previously been to Paris and knew little more than we do, so they helped us a little bit with finding the way to Montmartre. I had never been to Paris even though we always wanted to go there. We talked seriously about it before our children were born , but it was simply not happened. Now, thanks to Alphaville , we were here .
We were a bit early to check into the room, so before we did it , we took a tour of the area around the hotel and met suddenly Tobias Prohl and his girlfriend on the street. We stopped and chatted , happy to see each other and then we went to a bar where we would meet up with my German brother/soul mate Stefan and his wonderful wife Imme . With additional effort, we found ourselves soon at the bar where they sat and waited with the two girls , Sabrina and Silke.
It was a very good reunion . We sat in the sun and talked and I took an omelette and orange juice because we were really hungry after the meager airplane food.
After an hour at the bar , we got a guided tour of Imme and Stefan in the top of Montmartre. We were invited to taste the famous Macaron and we were hanging around in the sun outside the Sacré-Cœur for more than one hour before we later checked in at our hotel. At the hotel I had some time to myself on the small balcony in the sun before Eva-Lena arrived and we went out with the others in town.
Written on the wall – I love you in many different languages. All?
The evening started at a famous classic french restaurant that Stefan and Imme took us to. In the beginning we were supposed to eat only with Stefan and Imme – but we ended up being more than 15 people. That´s they way it should be in these get togethers, many people around. Highlight of the restaurant visit was my first time testing of the famous Escargots – snails.
After the restaurant we split up in smaller groups. Someone went to a pub and we went to the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed a glass of rosé in the green just by the tower, watching the lights twinkle on each hour. It was so lovely to sit on the grass, watching the tower, drinking wine and be together with great friends.
After a while we went down to the Seine river – took a couple of local beer and talk for hours. Met up with Mark and Mari from the US and good old David and Willy that I used to run the fan club together with in the late 90th and early years of the new decade. Also a new friend from Mexico, Malila joined us. Late – we decided it was time to go back to our hotel and have a good night sleep before the big party day.
joachim hollander 
