Time goes by fast. We know this, but it seems to almost pick up speed the older you get. My memories from the trip to France in 1998 - which really does not feel like very long ago at all - are now a quarter of a century old! As I have mentioned before, that first week was particularly magical. Having not been to France in the better part of a decade at that time, it felt wonderful simply to be back, when I arrived on July 7th. On the 8th, we went to the semifinal game, when France got past Croatia to qualify for their first ever World Cup Final. Eventually, they would win their first ever World Cup championship on July 12th, and two days later, there would be a particularly joyous fête nationale française,
Yet just before all of that, or rather, sandwiched in between, was a concert that probably still ranks as one of the very biggest which i have ever attended. It was the Three Tenors, who performed a free concert on the Champ de Mars, almost literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. A beautiful setting, and a beautiful evening, as I recall. One which i was privileged enough to have attended. Today, it seemed fitting to mark such an amazing anniversary.
For me, the best part was actually being there. The excitement and anticipation prior to the semifinal, which my brother and I were lucky enough to have attended in person. There was such excitement prior to the game and in the beginning. Then, deathly silence when Croatia scored early in the second half to take a 1-0 lead, before the place exploded when France scored very quickly thereafter.
It felt like everyone there was on the edge of their seat for the remaining of the game, especially when France scored again to make it 2-1. But on that evening, France, rather typically, would not be able to cushion their lead and, instead, made it as interesting as possible when they had a man ejected from the game, and thus were down a man. Still, they hung on, and the celebrations were wild. Yes, that night, but for the next few nights, in anticipation of the final against Brazil.
Of course, France won that, too, to clinch their first (and so far only) World Cup Championship. The celebrations for that were off the chart. I heard that Paris had not seen anything like it since the Liberation. It was wild, with the whole city shut down in just some massive celebrating. Few cars were on the roads, and those that were generally went nowhere, because the streets were so crowded with people. There was a minor fender bender that my brother just reminded me of a few days ago, and there were people jumping on the cars (complete strangers, I mean). There were people kicking soccer balls off the cars, and off of statues and such. Some others were scaling the statues and monuments and streetlamps. Again, it was just wild, and everyone seemed in a jovial mood. We went home to sleep at perhaps three or four in the morning, but I remember waking up and hearing some honking and celebrating even as late as seven in the morning! Unforgettable!
However, that entire first week back in France was wild. I had not been back to France in almost nine years, but that was probably the best week to be in the country during my lifetime! We went to the France-Croatia semifinal, and we watched the final against Brazil, then celebrated France's first ever World Cup title. Two days later, France celebrated the Fête Nationale (similar to the Fourth of July, and commonly known in English-speaking countries as Bastille Day).
Yet, in between the semifinal on July 8th and the final itself, which was on July 12th, there was a huge concert in Paris, and it was free! Yes, the Three Tenors gave a performance that was open to the public in a gorgeous location, on the Champs-de-Mars, right at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Some incredible memories there, although admittedly, I have enjoyed the music since either when watching the video or listening to the album more than on that night itself, because there were such throngs of people, and way too much noise to make actually listening to the music enjoyable. In fact, it made listening to it almost impossible at times.
Still, it was a good memories, and even though I forgot about that anniversary a few days ago (the concert was held on July 10, 1998), I thought it would be worth sharing now.
Like Super Bowl tickets, the tickets for the World Cup semifinal in Saint-Denis (as well as the tickets for the quarterfinal that my brother and I attended at Giants Stadium in 1994) are souvenir tickets, to add to that sense of it having been a really big deal. I absolutely loved them, and kept them both through the years. Even now, admittedly, I take them out every now and then to simply look at them, and appreciate the fact that my brother and I managed to go to such huge events, and in consecutive World Cups, to boot! The two nations that we are citizens of hosted the World Cup tournament back-to-back, which made me feel almost like an experienced aficionado after the semifinal with Croatia!
France wore their blue (home) jerseys for most of the matches that they played in this World Cup tournament. Makes sense, since this is considered their "home" jersey, and they were the hosts of the tournament that year.
It was a quarter of a century ago on this day that my brother and I went to see the Three Tenors, when they gave a free concert at the Champs-de-Mars in Paris, right under the Eiffel Tower. They did this for the occasion of the Coupe du Monde/World Cup, which France hosted (and won) that year.
I had only been back in France for a few days, having arrived on the 7th. On the 8th, we went to the semifinal game between Croatia and France, and then walked home, absorbing the festive atmosphere among happy fans of l'Equipe de France on the streets of Paris. I do not remember anything particularly about the 9th.
But this was far and away the most memorable thing for us on the 10th. We knew about the concert, and knew that we would be going to see it.
We got there in plenty of time, and of course there was already a big crowd gathered. As it turns out, the loudness and lack of consideration of too many there assembled would prove to be almost as memorable as the concert itself.
There were vendors all over, trying to sell things. One guy was particularly memorable. He was selling chocolate cookies, and kept yelling "Gateaux chocolat!" over and over again, trying to make his sales. Somebody shushed him, a reminder that he was at a concert (a classical one, at that), and should be respectful. The vendor kind of teased the man, and whispered (rather loudly) this same refrain, looking at the man in a kind of mocking manner. A lot of people around laughed.
Indeed, however, the behavior of large crowds usually is not magnificent, and that certainly was the case for his concert. There were just so many people there, that it could hardly be avoided. This same rule is basically true for other huge public events that I have seen, with few, few exceptions.
Still, in any case, I was very pleased to have gone to the concert, and it was a pleasant experience overall. I have watched it since (on an old VHS copy), and thought that, since I have been writing blog entries about that memorable year and World Cup tournament in France, it would be suitable (even a must, really) to also honor this huge concert on the occasion of the 17th anniversary since it took place.
Below is a video of the concert in it's entirety:
No comments:
Post a Comment