iCON 2003 IN PARIS... AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME

 

A Diary Report by Billy Wong

 

 

Above photo: Friends Across the Seas - iCON 2003 group photo with people representing over 20 cities in 4 continents

 

WEDNESDAY: MAY 21, 2024

 

My partner David and I flew from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Paris. On the train ride from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Paris city centre, we were entertained by a brilliant busker who boarded our carriage and played typical French accordion music. What a wonderful start to our trip!

 

As we reached our hotel (Republique les Halles), we were delighted to meet up again with Dan and Chris from Washington D.C., whom we had met at iCON 2002 in Montreal. It was amazing that a year had passed so quickly.

The hotel management was gay friendly: we found complimentary gay magazines and Paris gay guides as well as a package containing condoms and lubricants all neatly laid out by the bedside table. I wonder what the management expected us to get up to in this romantic city (Wink!)

 


Top: In 'Pigz' restaurant..."Honey, when you told me we were going to a French bistro, I did not expect it to be in Paris, France!"

 

Although the official iCON 2003 program did not begin until the following day, an 'early bird' dinner had been arranged at a nearby gay restaurant "Les Trois Petits Cochons" (The Three Little Pigs). My partner and I decided to walk to the restaurant. It was further than we had thought and we were intercepted on the way by Bernard Willette, one of the chief organizers of iCON 2003 from LYC Paris. He told us that the venue had been changed to a sister restaurant called 'Pig-Z' only a block away.

 

The restaurant was already almost filled with early iCON 2003 registrants. We heard a roar of greeting from friends we knew. The food was delicious: smoked salmon, chicken with special herbs, and a parfait. Everyone had a great time and the official programme had not even started!

 

 

THURSDAY: MAY 22, 2024

 

The home-base hotel for iCON 2003 was the Holiday Inn Republique located in the charming tree-clad Place de la Republique. The other recommended hotels were close by, so after breakfast we walked to the Holiday Inn to register.

Registrants were supplied with the iCON 2003 program, directory of registrants, name badges, maps, LYC Paris' special edition magazine called 'Le Long Courier' (in French and in English), special iCON pens and we were even provided with a specially designed shoulder bag with the iCON 2003 Long Yang Club Paris logo on it.

 

 

From (L to R)Friends from Toronto, Ottawa and London UK "warming up" to iCON 2003; A"Yummy" Welcome Buffet.....about 2 trillion calories ; Marc and Bernard (chief organizer of iCON 2003).

 

 

From L to R: Boarding coach for Paris City Tour ;Notre Dame Cathedral

 

There were 165 registrants from over 20 cities from the USA and Canada, the UK and Europe, Asia and Australia. I believe even more names were added after the registration list was made.

 

The organizers also laid out a delicious 'Welcome Buffet'. Although it was supposed to be 'just a snack', there were sumptuous salads and meats, plus about a dozen different French desserts , all of them so mouth-watering I did not know which ones to choose ! Some of us took our platefuls of food and enjoyed them at the tables in the outside Terrace Garden.

 

This was a great opportunity to say 'hello' to the registrants. Some were people we had met at other iCON events in the past, some were new faces. Everyone was looking forward to the events of the next few days.

 

Soon, it was time for us to go on the Paris city tour. There were two double decked coaches laid on for us. Our tour guide spoke in French and in English. We were driven through the streets of Paris, passing by famous sights like Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, Champs Elysees boulevarde, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, etc. En route, we stopped at the Trocadero where we got off for a group photo. This was a superb location as it was on high ground and it provided a backdrop scene of the Eiffel tower. We also discovered later that the Trocadero was a gay cruising area at night.....some naughty guys thought it was an appropriate 'introductory' stopover to plan their future noturnal visit (but their boyfriends wouldn't let them!)

 

In the evening, our iCON 2003 opening dinner was at the elegant Etoile restaurant on the Champs Elysees, just a few steps from the Arc de Triomphe. The journey there gave many of us our first experience of the Paris Metro (the underground system).

 

We started with some complimentary cocktails and 'tit bits' on the patio before we were invited to our dinner at the candle-lit tables indoors. The entire restaurant had been reserved for iCON 2003. The most photographed 'person' that evening was a life-sized, very well endowed statue (maybe Hercules?) which stood outside the Patio!

 

The evening was hosted with charm and entertaining good humour by Franck Hedin, Thao Nguyen, Bernard Willette , who made announcements in English and in French.

 

After more great French food, the organizers of iCON 2002 from Montreal and Ottawa, Canada, were thanked for last year's event.

 

 

 

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