ELVIS HISTORY / ELVIS ARTICLES

On Tuesday, June 16, 1959, Elvis arrived in Paris.

He traveled from Germany, where he was doing his service in the army, taking advantage of the fact that he had a few days off.

He was accompanied by Charlie Hodge and Rex Mansfield, who were doing their military service with him, and Lamar Fike, who was part of his entourage.

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Freddie Bienstock, his music editor, was waiting for him on the station platform, along with his cousin Jean Aberbach, co-director of “Hill & Range“, Elvis’s publisher.

They were happy to be together and greeted each other warmly.

“This is the first time you’ve been to Paris?” Freddie asked Elvis.

Elvis nodded.

Freddie told them that visiting Paris at dawn would be an experience they would never forget. And although they were very tired from the trip, he insisted on taking them for a walk to visit the capital of France at dawn… And so they did.

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“Elvis, you have to start by seeing the sun rise over the city.” “It’s an experience you’ll never forget,” Freddy told him.

So they went to see Notre-Dame and the Sacred Heart at the first light of dawn.

They were still numb from the night on the train, but the show was wonderful.

Freddie turned to Elvis and asked: – “Upset?”.

– “It’s very beautiful Freddy” said Elvis.

Elvis then winked at Charlie and said: “I’ve never been anywhere like this in Tupelo, Charlie…“

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They had made reservations to stay in a suite on the top floor, overlooking the Champs Elysees, at the luxurious Prince de Galles Hotel. It was the most elegant hotel in the city. A dream hotel.

Rex Mansfield remembers that the suite had a living room that linked two very large bedrooms. Elvis stayed in one of them. Rex and Charlie shared the other one and Lamar slept in the living room.

Of course, the French press immediately found out that Elvis was in Paris and on Wednesday, June 17, all the newspapers covered the news on their front pages.

The fans, logically, also found out. The streets were filled with people who wanted to see their idol, and Elvis, as always, agreed to requests for autographs from Parisians.

Could anyone think that the most famous soldier in the world could take a quiet walk through Paris, without his fans making it impossible for him to move normally?

Charlie recounts that: “to avoid the crowds we even had to enter a movie theater, cross it to the end and exit through the back door…“.

But despite the fact that the crowds harassed him, Elvis, as always, kindly attended to them.

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The afternoon after his arrival, at 4:30 p.m., a press conference was held in the hotel lounge.

Elvis baffled everyone, and as soon as he began to answer the questions, he completely erased the somewhat frivolous image that some journalists had sometimes wanted to give him.

Freddie Bienstock concluded the press conference and then they went to the patio next to the room, where Elvis remained speaking with those present and being photographed by the press.

At the end, and having rented a magnificent white convertible Cadillac, he decides late in the afternoon to take a tour of the city…

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But Elvis, Rex, Lamar, Charlie and the boys were eager to enjoy the nightlife in Paris. Elvis realized that he could only go out after dark, to avoid being harassed by people, and so they did, so they could visit the famous nightclubs of the city… Moulin Rouge, Carrousel, Casino of Paris, The Lido …