I’m currently in Nantes, following the Utopiales convention.

Here’s what happened on this first day.

After my arrival in the hotel, I decided to go early to the convention center to see if I could fetch some tickets early and skip the waiting line in the evening. Turns out that not only they don’t sell advance tickets, they also only sell the day tickets, so I’ll have to stand in line every day.

I came back at 5h45 hoping to see the booth open at 6. No luck there, as the person who told me to come back got the hour wrong, so I had to wait until 6h30 to get my ticket (number 2!).

First thing, the price for this first day is steep, as we only got to look at the exposition, see the opening session, and a show. This is the same price I’ll pay tomorrow for a full day.

The exposition was nice to look at, with a collection of old vinyl disks with nice SF jackets, some medievel drawings, and a collection of scientific images juxtaposed with writing from Werber. I passed those fast, and will have to go back in the next days to read them in full.

The opening session was late (half an hour late!), and remarkably dull : having political representatives from the city, the region, and the state all saying the same thing that had been said by the convention president didn’t make for an interesting time.

The opening session was so late that I had to skip the show, and go to dinner, my stomach not having being fed since morning.

Now, to the Brandon part. I saw him as he was entering the place with his wife. What struck me was how tall he was. I only ever saw him sitting, and figured he must be about my size. How wrong was I! His wife appears frail when she’s next to him, and she’s about my size. There’s something endearing at seeing such a big man, with such gentle manners.

As he was looking tired, and in good company, I decided not to bother him today. I’ll see him tomorrow at the signing. Hopefully, he will have some time to discuss writing then.

See you tomorrow for day 2!