SPANISH FILE # 3:
THE MIRANDE EXPERIENCE (2007):
Even a few months after, it´s still hard to put in words what this experience was like for us. We came from Barcelona to la Mirande Country Festival just to meet our dear Dallas stars and, of course, enjoy the beautiful French place and each other´s company.
It was Friday the 13th, but it didn´t scare us at all. We took the line bus in the early morning and arrived at Toulouse one hour late. Thanks to the very kind French friends from the Dallas 2002 Forum who had the patience to wait for us, we could finally get to the Mirande later in the afternoon.
(Photo above: dear French and Canadian friends Pierrot "Cam" and Gab)
We first met the Ewings at the entranceway to the village, through the big poster announcing the event. They all looked happy and so welcoming! We met other Dallas fans that made us comfortable there. The village was pintoresque and looked American in a very strange way. But we had to leave early since it was a very long bus travel.
Saturday morning we did our own discovery of la Mirande, and even found a very good and unexpensive restaurant. We had a lot of doubts about the Dallas meeting: Could we get anything signed or only the picture sold at the Festival? What about the dinner? My friend Mauricio and I had a reservation along with the other Dallas French fans for a dinner in the same place than the actors! Could this be true?
So we took our way to the Festival itself and we got most of our questions answered. The place was a sort of mixture of a Rodeo and a Barbecue, to speak in Dallas´s words. There were a lot of food and drink stands, big pics of the stars, the place where we would be dining that evening, and so. We found out that the signing was scheduled at 8 pm, so we had to be a couple of hours earlier back to stand at the queue (though it wasn´t really necessary).
After lunch and our “siesta”, we went back at the Festival and got our pics of the Dallas cast. Then we had to wait under the afternoon sun, in a very very hot day, though it was rainy a few days ago there. I must say that my friend waited there longer than me, to be fair, and I thank him for that too…
About ten minutes past eight, the people was so nervous since the signature stand was at the concert stand´s side and we had a small sight of the stars coming up on it. The first thing I saw was Steve Kanaly´s bright blue eyes, and then Patrick Duffy´s slim body, looking just Bobby a few years after. Then came Larry, Charlene and Linda…Someone began to talk and then to sing. The fans were anxious to meet their idols…
I don´t know if it was Charlene or her daughter Cherish who sang, but they sounded great, and almost at half past eight, we begin to see some of the bodyguards in red T-shirt. Finally, they came into the stand, and all the fans clapped and shouted, calling the actors sometimes by their real names, sometimes by their characters´.
And the five of them sat down “in front of us”. There really was an iron fence between “them” and “us”, even when we got the pic signed. There they were: Linda, Steve, Patrick, Charlene and Larry, last but not least. How can you tell about such a thrilling moment? I knew that I wanted to have some kind of connection with them and not only say “thank you” so…
…So we eventually were in front of Linda. I said that we came from Spain and were very glad to meet her, and invited her to come since she was the only one from the original cast who never was in Spain. Funnily, Linda moved back and, behind Steve´s back, she said to Patrick: “Have you been in Spain?”. I was so excited that I couldn´t hear his answer. We then told Linda how wonderful we thought she was and went on to Steve…
Linda looked absolutely stunning, and no picture will make her justice (much less the ones I took of her). She seemed blast from the past, just out of the Dream Season, wearing a Texan hat and a brown dress. That shining smile, those sweet, kind manners, and, as JR would say, those eyes!!
Steve and Patrick were a lot busier signing and talking to each other, or at least that seemed to me. And then I was in front if Charlene: I also told her about Spain, and her visit when Cherish was a baby. She remembered all that, since after that, she had an audition with the Pope in Rome (well, I used that to make her remember, though I didn´t have to: she has a great memory). Then I said thanks and “come back, we miss you”…She looked gorgeous too, so full of energy and joy…
At the end, I found myself looking up at the “Master”: Larry Hagman. The person at charge of security was a little pushy and I was a bit nervous, so I thanked Larry and told him: “At your feet, Master”. I crossed my arms and did the “I Dream of Jeannie” gesture, and Larry noticed it and smiled. Just a way to tell him how thankful we were to him and not only for Dallas, but also for his whole career. I was flying away on my carpet by then…
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