This adventure started with the question: “Who wants to go to Geneva?” At the very beginning, everyone was wondering about that, but no one wanted to travel so long and spend so much money just to see Lene singing several sentences in play-back.

 

Denis, who does not live very far from Geneva, was the first to make up his mind to go. From this moment on, other fans started to think about coming too… It was at this moment that the idea of a meeting between Lene and her fans came about.
- Her fans, this is what we are, even if we hate this word. We are not groupies who want to collect every little piece of anything she could have touched. We admire her, that's all. We want to support her, to show her that as long as she plays songs we will be there. It is a way to show her our appreciation for what she has brought us. We wanted to see her in the flesh because until now she was just lyrics, music, pictures… a magical person or a little voice in our heads.

When Alistair confirmed that we would be able to meet Lene, things changed. Eight people eventually decided to go to Geneva on September, 9 th.



Everyone arrived at different times. As this weekend had been planed very late, we were not really organised. So it was not very easy to find each other on Saturday afternoon.

Syl and Amélie missed their first appointment with the Italian group and Alistair at 2pm because they already had to meet the French at 3pm and they did not have the time to go to both.
At 3:15pm, all the French fans were there except… Denis! He was lost. Unfortunately, this was not the time to be lost, because we had to be in front of the Arena at 4pm, to join the Italians and probably… Lene! At 3:30pm, when we could not find Denis, we decided to leave without him, and to ask him to join us at the Arena. And we jumped in a bus. But as soon as it pulled out, Amélie asked “Are we going in the good direction?” No one dared to answer… so she went to ask the driver. He answered: “No, you're absolutely not!” So we got off the bus immediately and we rushed towards the bus station. Then we waited several minutes for the RIGHT bus to come. We got off the bus at the airport and then we rushed towards the Arena. It was about 4:05pm and the Italians were not there anymore. They already were at Lene's hotel. So we searched for it, trying to remember where it was, according to what Zuzzy told us the previous night. But we could not find it. Amélie, who was desperate, wrote to Zuzzy. Then he kindly came to fetch us. We were saved! (And Denis, too, as he saw us in the airport while we were all running quickly).

 

All the Italians were in the hotel, drinking and chatting. We sat with them and we talked together. Suddenly, all glances were looking in the same direction… Lene was there! She was sitting several meters away with Alistair, a Lovebug, Linda and some others –Denis said later that he had first recognized her “little noise”.
She quickly came over to us. She asked us some questions and she accepted to pose for Denis, who was very talkative! We French were really surprised because he used to be a shy man! Lene has probably revealed his extroverted side:).
It was incredibly strange to see Lene standing there, close to us, talking with us. But actually, Lene is as mysterious in front of you as she is in her songs. By the way, several French fans did not come because they feared that the magic would disappear while meeting her. So when we told them it was not the case at all, they really wished they had come…
For all the other fans who think that meeting Lene is not such a good idea, we can assure you that you will not be disappointed and that Lene is the same in a TV interview as in front of you!

 

Lene stayed with us about 10 minutes before giving an interview in her room. Alistair followed her and told us: “Put everything on Lene's account”.
We kept on chatting for a while and then everybody had to leave. The waiters asked us to pay, so we answered that Alistair was paying for us. But they did not want to listen to us and they were still asking for money. They finally said that we had to call Alistair for him to come and tell them that he would pay. As we did not know what to do, Amélie asked Zuzzy to come. Fortunately, with his good business sense, he succeeded in convincing the waiters to let us go.
So we left the hotel relieved and looking forward to the night to come. We all decided to gather at the end of the show in front of the Arena. We separated in several groups, as we had different things to do.

 

The five French fans who did not go to the show gathered at 7pm to eat in the Geneva centre. We knew that Lene was going to sing at the beginning of the show, and we thought that it started at 8:40pm. So we left at 8:30pm to go to Indira's home, our friend from Geneva, to watch the show on TV. As we were late we had to run up the streets on a slope. We were panting and sweating, but at precisely 8:40pm we were in front of the TV.
The show had already begun, so Sébastien asked “Are you sure it was at 8:40pm and not at 8:20pm?” And we started doubting. Amélie checked the TV program and said with in little voice “Oops”… We were disappointed and angry with ourselves. We were wondering what to do, wait or go directly to the Arena when Amélie suddenly said “Isn't that Lene?! I recognize her hair and she's wearing a black top… she's used to wearing these kinds of clothes” After a few minutes Amélie had shouted: “It's her! With Adrian, on stage!!”, just before the host presented the song. We were all very happy!

After the song we went slowly towards the train station, in order to take the train for the airport (it is actually better than the bus ).

 

We arrived in front of the Arena at around 9:40pm, so we had to wait about 20 minutes for the end of the gala. We spent the time chatting, laughing, talking about the night to come… We were in another world at this moment. We were with people who we really appreciate but who we rarely see, in a place where we had never gone before, and waiting for Lene to come…
People were going out of the Arena. They were all dressed up so we felt a little awkward in our everyday clothes. At 10:20pm our French friends were there, but not the Italians. After waiting a while, we wondered what to do or where to go… So Amélie wrote to Alistair who answered that Lene had to give some interviews and he asked us to wait for them at the hotel until midnight ! …Lene is so unpredictable !

 

Finally we found the Italians. They already knew that Lene would arrive around 12pm. We all stayed in front of the Arena for about half an hour and then we went slowly towards the hotel.
We arrived at 11pm and we entered as if we were staying at the hotel. We sat in armchairs. The guards were looking at us oddly, but they did not ask us to leave. Fortunately, most of us were well-dressed or… nearly.
Some of us were chatting, others were almost sleeping. The waiting was long but worthwhile. Some went outside not to fall asleep and came back at the hotel when Lene arrived.

 

There we were. At about 00:30, Lene got out the taxi with Alistair and the Lovebugs. She entered the hotel, smiling. From this moment on, the everyone's memories are different. While some of us were talking to the Lovebugs, some others were chatting with Alistair and the others were taking photos with Lene.
Some strong moments stood out about the night. Lene was really moved when she received her presents : the star from the Italians and the personalized frame from us. Alistair also received a present from the Italians… the famous Norbury's beers, which made everyone laugh!
As soon as everybody had the time to talk to everyone, especially Lene, we gathered to take pictures of the whole group. Alistair was the main photographer. And while we were posing Lene shouted “I have the best fans in the world!!”

Lene was shining and looked very happy. She spread positive energy, so everyone was in a good mood! She stayed friendly and she was very happy to talk to us. She was also very generous. She truly reflects the human side which stands out from her lyrics and melodies. Lene seems unreal... that is why Mickael was unable to embrace her when they took a photo together!

 

One hour after her entrance, Lene announced that she was going to go. But she did not leave like a thieve. She came to embrace all her fans one by one, to say thanks and goodbye to us.
Afterwards she went downstairs to the Miss Swiss Gala.

 

We stayed in the hotel for one and a half hours, chatting and dreaming. We were in a strange state. It was not a dream… but it did not seem to be reality.
It was hard to realize that the moment with Lene was already past. We were happy and sad at the same time.

 

We left the hotel at 3am. We were exhausted but we did not want to go to sleep… because we did not want this day to end. At 4:30am we were finally in our bed and the sandman was on his way.

 

When we woke up we had the impression that this night had just been a dream… It was really like a dream… when one great moment is finished and will never come back… except in another dream…

 

At 11am, we had to gather to play a football match (revenge of the unfair Football World Cup ). But no one brought what may be the most important thing to play football : a ball ! So everyone did different things : chatting about the previous night and the future, playing giant chess,…
At 12, the Italians and the French had to go their separate ways.
At 1pm, Syl and Amélie were the first to leave to go back home.
By 7pm, all the French had left Geneva… with incredible memories !

 

A meeting with Lene is something very special. Even if you know that she cannot notice who she exactly saw, that she will not remember who you are, you cannot help regretting some things… a word you did not manage to tell her, an autograph you did not ask for, the horrible face you pulled in the only picture you took with her,…
But as time passes, you only save the good memories… and this will to recreate the meeting to not “commit the same errors” turns out to be a will to see her again, in order to spend a greater moment…

 

We French have talked about seeing her again… and most of us want to wait… because up to this night in Geneva, Lene was a kind of dream, of an imaginary friend… The night has made her come true, but it has not killed this magical image of a mysterious angel. And keeping this image is the best thing we can have.
So when we see Lene again, it has to be at least as magical as this night ! …
Maybe it will be for a private concert!

 

Thank you very very very much Lene. You have brought smiles to our lives through your songs, your personality and through the great people you helped us meet.