oh, just had such a flashback...

The Grand Magic Circus led by the most incredible man I have ever met. Jerome Savary. He was French, but grew up in Argentina. Brilliant man. Our paths crossed twice.

The first time was in Munich, and they did an outdoor performance on the grounds of the Olympic village. And I had a terrific slide shot of him putting on the final touches on some guys' make-up, The troupe was amazing, and he was a brilliant artist. Later did some very serious stuff all over the continent.

I was reminded of it while watching 'Britain's Got Talent', and there was this really good troupe called ''The Horror Show', which was circus and edgy, but they didn't get into the finals. They weren't as good as what Savary did, but very close, and it opened the memory floodgates.

Many years later, the troupe landed at the hotel I worked in, and it was the most chaotic ten days I ever... EVER had. We had this arts festival in autumn back then, and they were on the programme. So I had to deal with them every day. Amazing people. And they looked like the sort you'd say 'throw the bums out'. Sorta creepy. And surreal.

My absolute favorite was a dwarf. He always had a pair of roller skates slung around his shoulders, but I never saw him actually wear them. Every second word out of his mouf was 'merde'. So onery, hey... He could creep me out to the max. Would slink up to the pult where I was sitting, and it was high. So I wouldn't see him coming, doing statistics and my journals and journals, and he wouldn't say anything. Until I'd feel uncomfortable, as if someone were watching me, and I would look up and see a cap, bushy eyebrows, and brown eyes intently watching me over the desk part of it, and would go bonkers inwardly. He was so intense.

Everyone was so interesting. And of course, I met Jerome Savary. I love artists, and he was... a real gentleman. In every sense of the word. And he had his people in place.

In those ten days, he dealt with hissy fits behind the scenes after rehearsals, and there was a major melt-down with some guy who was supposed to hold and twist a ribbon that a woman was doing acrobatics on, and threatened to quit, it all took place in the lobby, and it was better than Broadway. Lots of fireworks which never really exploded in the end.

And a lovely French Canadian lady who looked anorexic, and I couldn't IMAGINE what she was doing there. She looked sort of plain.

Their week was tumultuous, and it was so much fun watching them. I did get Jerome in a corner one evening, and gave him the slide I took in Munich. He seemed astounded. And we spoke at length. In horrible French. (My French is horrible, not his...) And in the end, he said, ''Vous etes tres gentil'. And meant it.

There was a saxaphone player from Lyon, who was also such a hunk, I was 'in-lurv', gawwd, so sexy.

Well, their play date came, and I just had to see what was going on, and went to see the performance. It was brilliant. The sax player gave me a sax greeting when I entered the theater lobby, it was a chaotic scene they were doing.

What followed was amazing in every sense of the word. Magic. All those motley people were transformed into the most beautiful people I'd ever seen. The anorexic lady was suddenly the most agile, beautiful woman you could imagine.

Everything fit. If I hadn't been sitting, I'd have gone down on my arse.

Sometimes you have the luck to be in the right place at the right time. And see some magic. Those people work very hard to acheive that.

My second favorite was a non-verbal troupe from Nancy in France. They would start off with noise... and it became something way else. Even Millie talks about that today, we both saw it, and they stayed with us. They came back to the hotel one night, and I sort of repaid them... Mimed opening a winder looking surprised, and then opening the door. They loved it.

Tja... artists are fun, and you can't get it any better than talking with them, and being in-lurv with creativity.

Sorry, just reminiscing.