Fun & Famous
The Struggle of May
What do you do when you meet Isabel Marant in real life?
About two years ago, Jet and I were in Paris and we had to kill two hours before we would take the Thalys back to Amsterdam. Of course, we didn't do that at McDonald's (the idea), but at Le Meurice, one of the most beautiful hotels in Paris where you might just run into Kanye West, Alber Elbaz, or Grace Coddington. Be warned, though, because once you've slept there, you're spoiled for the rest of your life.
“There are just the two of us, May, so if we see someone we think is cool, we just go up to them.” That's my Jettie, so decisive. Easier said than done. Because when Jet went to the bathroom and I turned my head to the left, I saw Catherine Deneuve sitting there. Catherine Deneuve, you know, the muse of Yves Saint Laurent, the ex-lover of Marcello Mastroianni, the most beautiful woman ever and stylish to boot. I thought about what we had so firmly decided two minutes earlier, but I didn't dare. She was talking to a younger man, who knows, maybe her son, perhaps a family matter, and would I just be standing there awkwardly? No bleached hair on my head was considering that.
Last week I was walking through Santa Gertrudis when a man and a woman passed me. I turned around again because I recognized that man. From where? From where? My brain was racing. I had met him, he was French, something in fashion. Bingo. It was Jérôme Dreyfuss. Now, I once had a particularly pleasant hour-long conversation with Jérôme, so in a normal situation, I could have casually called out “Bonjour Jérôme” and made small talk. I could have if I hadn't simultaneously realized that if this was Jérôme Dreyfuss, then that was Isabel Marant. And then I needed a moment to breathe.
“Go over there. Take a photo!”, my love said. “I don't dare!” I hissed. “Why not?” “Too much of a groupie. Too starstruck.” But in the car, I was secretly sulking. I mean, how often does a person see Jérôme and Isabel Marant walking around in a deserted and dusty village?
Should I regret this? Believe me, I thought about it for a long time and my answer is no. Lesson learned from Matthijs van Nieuwkerk. In the Netherlands, people usually leave him alone, but when they see him abroad, they say: “This is too coincidental, I have to talk to you now!” Uh, why exactly? He's on vacation, right? Leave the man alone. Now is exactly when you shouldn't approach him. The same goes for Jérôme and Isabel. I might be waiting for it, but they are not. And then what? What does a photo without value say? You put your heads together, someone pressed a button, and then we would all awkwardly go our separate ways.
Shouldn't a photo be a memory of a lovely evening, a special encounter? Doesn't it only have value when it's charged? Now such a snapshot would only tell that I saw them. But I can just tell you that. Or do you not believe me otherwise? So if you see a celebrity out and about this holiday: leave him or her alone. Unless they Justin or Orlando are waving their penum around...
* For our youthful readers; Tjolk Hekking was a character from Van Kooten and De Bie** who always intruded inappropriately.
** For even younger readers; Kees van Kooten is the father of Kim van Kooten and once had one of the most hilarious TV shows in history together with Wim de Bie.
