A concert in Dallas !

Here I am, little French girl arriving in Dallas (ok, anyone having met me is laughing right now, for I am a good 6 feet, which is not exactly the little poor thing average size)

And, bang, on my first day here, who do I spot on a huge billboard near my hotel ?

Dear old Elton John !

Another European, an alien ... And an old friend of mine.

Hum... no , he actually does not know he is an old friend of mine,

You know, that's the funny thing with artists you love : you know them so well, they are so familiar, you feel as if they were friends. You share souvenirs with them, you have seen them fall in love , have kids, get into nasty divorce, get old. And they were there with their songs when you got married, got kids, got divorced too... So you have the impression you are part of their family.

But the truth is you are only one of the hundred thousands human being to know them "so well". 

And you are just a stranger for them, of course. 

So Elton does not know me, true... But he is an old friend still, and an important singer for me.

And it s like a perfect circle in my life tonight, for I actually learned my first words of English with Elton, when I was about 12 years old. I went for a few days in England then and fell in love with his first "greatest hit album" (what a career by the way ! This was in 1976 !). It s probably the first "pop rock" album I bought with my pocket money 

and soon I knew entirely all the songs - but mainly phonetically ! 

I remember being able to sing the whole "sorry seems to be the hardest word" song, word by word,  sound by soundnot having a clue of what it meant - I just mimicked the language

And I have spent my whole following school year learning English eagerly ... just to be able to understand his texts and what I loved to sing along.

So I owe Elton a large part of my love for the English language and ... We'll a good part of that trip too, actually.

And here, nearly thirty years later, in the beautiful American Airways Center in Dallas,

Just on my arrival for this American trip,

He s here

Good old faithful friend,

And I am to hear him "en chair et en os" (literally in flesh and bones)

 Is nt life the most surprising and mysterious thing !?!