An Intimate Look at
Santa Barbara's Trip to France by Marcy Walker
For the May sweeps, Santa Barbara's Marcy Walker (Eden), A Martinez (Cruz), Carrington
Garland (Kelly), Peter Love (Ricardo) and Elizabeth Storm (Hollis) went on location to
Paris, France to shoot the scenes in which Eden and Cruz are reunited with their baby
daughter, Adriana. It was a magical week in the City of Lights - and Marcy Walker kept a
diary of the experience.
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5:30 a.m. LA time/Friday
We had a limo sent for us. We had an hour to get to the airport. He got us there in twelve
minutes. I don't think I'll ever get used to those things. Too cold. And the driver
is so far away from you. And inevitably you end up talking, so you're freezing and
shouting. A (Martinez) and I aren't on the same plane. We were on the same plane until
Eric Preven (associate producer) heard that George Bush and Dan Quayle don't travel on the
same plane. "In the event..." Should I be upset?
2:00 a.m. LA Time/5:00 NY Time
Two-hour layover in New York City. Where do we go hang out for two hours? Aha! Julie Hanan
Carruthers (producer) has a TWA Ambassador's Club Card, so we had a pretzel-ridden haven
for a couple of hours. Saw a man. Familiar. Handsome. Realized he's Joe Montana.
One of the greatest quarterbacks of our time. When you see people like him, you feel you
know them, but you tell yourself not to stare. Really strange feeling. (He's shorter than
I thought.)
10:15 a.m. LA Time/7:30 Paris time
Tried to sleep. "Tried" is the operative word. I think, in a word, sleeping on
planes is inhumane. When I woke up, I spilled juice on myself, then milk. Then, when I
went to wash it out of my clothes in the bathroom, I smashed my finger in the door and
banged my head on the overheard compartment. I hope this isn't an omen.
Arrival/Saturday
We are here! Lots of fans (all with cameras) in the airport. Somewhere there will be
hundreds of horrid pictures of me...I looked awful. Oh well. I am not surprised by how
kind and shy the fans are. I feel the same general feelings from the mail they send. They
are always so polite. When we got to the hotel, we got our bags. The bellhop was
stupefied.
I tried to speak French and then found out his French was worse than mine - he was from
Argentina. Eric called...come up to Jill's room. (Jill Farren Phelps is SB's executive
producer). It's Courtney's (Jill's daughter) birthday. Imagine! Ten years old and having a
birthday in Paris. We all sat around, talked and ate cheese sandwiches. Little did I know
then how those cheese sandwiches would affect my stay in Paris.
4:00 a.m./Sunday
Wide awake. Jet lag, I think. Walked around and finally decided to sit down and eat some
fish. I was amazed that the restaurant was full at four o'clock in the morning. Went back
to Eric's room to ask him what I should do about jet lag. I have to work in a day. Do I
stay awake? Do I sleep? Well, he was gone. Out with everyone else dancing at the Baton
Rouge.
5:30 p.m.
Decided to do some shopping since today was the only day. T-shirts for friends and stuff.
I thought Paris was the fashion capital of the world. After looking around, it seems they
have a love and fascination with old American clothes. Nothing like mutual love and
appreciation. Went to the flea market (which everyone said was really neat). Whoever
created every flea market ever made from Saugus to Palmdale (in California) created this
one, too. Leather jackets, bulk socks and gummy bears by the pound. Wrong place to go,
too. "Eden! Eden!"
10:45 p.m.
Went to dinner with almost everyone. We all ordered steak. And fries. One look at the menu
had us all stretching our American roots. I think it had to do with the fact that
(Supervising Producer) Steve Kent's salad had a live snail crawling across the plate. I
never saw a person spit food out faster in my entire life.
2:45 p.m./Monday
The day started out with an interesting twist. (Makeup artist) Carlos Yeaggy was
propositioned by a hooker at seven o'clock in the morning in the lobby of our hotel. As a
testimony to how tired we all are, it took him about ten minutes to get the gist of it. He
thought she wanted to use his phone.
The work has gone rather smooth. Everyone's prepared. The crew is fast. Rick
Bennewitz (our director) is his usual kind, patient self. He is truly a pleasure to work
with. A's got a cold, but he's such a trooper that you wouldn't even know he's not feeling
well. He has gotten so used to working past his point of exhaustion that I think it's
actually what fuels him sometimes.
We had our first Parisian lunch, with is more than humane. Wine at lunch! But we were good
- no wine. I'm trying to lose weight, though, and they served bread. Delicious
bread. And cheese. Tons of cheese. And cafe au lait. With sugar. Can't win
for losing...
7:15 a.m./Tuesday
Didn't sleep so well. My legs kept cramping up on me from all the stairs we ran up and
down. Last night, we went out to dinner with Carlos and Grant (Johnson, production
assistant).
We went to this little Paris place that was obviously a native spot. By the looks we got,
we certainly weren't that welcome. A lot of them recognized that I did SB - it was
explained to me by (New World Television's executive vice president) Gerry Ament that the
share we hold here makes us more popular than the COSBY show in our own country - and
asked for autographs. This thing is, most people who recognize you are happy to meet you
and would like an autograph and treat you kindly. In this particular situation,
they stared at me with disgust, requested an autograph and then talked about dumb
Americans while we ate. I kept feeling like if I just shut up they wouldn't know I was
a "tourista." They seemed to not only know I was, but kind of
abhorred our frivolity. We had a good time anyway. Shows what good company can do. Second
day today. Hope it's good.
8:45am
We are shooting at the Eiffel Tower. Windy...and forty degrees. Freezing. I have
long underwear under my dress but had to cut the legs off because I'd look stupid
otherwise. A lot of good long underwear does when you have to chop all of it off. I
finally realized that this really quiet man who's been following me around is my
bodyguard. I've been wondering who he is - but he's so inconspicuous that I'm usually not
aware of him. I feel safe in his hands. He's big and looks rather ominous in his FBI coat.
I wonder if he's packing a piece (that's detective talk).
11:00 a.m.
Finished tower scenes. Sun was killing my closeups. I wish I could get better at dealing
with direct sun but I just never seem to do anything but squint. My bodyguard's name is
Jean Paul. He got to really show his stuff when we were leaving the Eiffel Tower in the
elevator and we stood trapped like rats in the compartment until the elevator above was
finished loading. He was surrounding me in the group of people like a cheap suit. I signed
autographs and spoke broken French for about five minutes until finally we took off. It
was sort of a relief. I'm one of those kinds of people who doesn't think anything's wrong
unless somebody else thinks there is. Having a bodyguard makes me think there's something
to be frightened about.
3:45 p.m.
Waiting. Raining...figues. We are ahead of schedule and doing great. So we are all
standing by. Some literally standing out in the rain, others in warm trailers talking
about the rain. I hope no one gets sick.
Evening
On the way back to our hotel, I heard the most hilarious story. Every day since
we've been here we've had these little portable toilets - three to be exact - on top of
this
flatbed truck. So if you need to "go", you hop up and do so. Well, yesterday
afternoon, Danny Webb (our cameraman) was in the position in which nature called and was
forced to use the facility. While he was inside, the truck pulled away. Location move!
Danny Webb saw Paris in an extraordinary way. The image is hysterical.
8:00 a.m./Wednesday
Still raining.
Our party was last night at the Polo Club. Met the head of New World Television, our
financiers, a lot of people who are associated with our show who you never get the
pleasure to meet. Robin Wright's (ex-Kelly) mom was there, too. She's in Europe producing
a movie. The only problem was that there was only hors d'oeuvres and alcohol and we were
all starving. Being an entree person myself, cucumber sandwiches just didn't cut
it. About 11:3, when we got back to the hotel, we got off the elevator to see Steve Kent
and Rick Bennewitz cruising back to their room with McDonald's bags in their hands. A Big
Mac at midnight may not be your cholesterol-conscious choice, but it sure is the best idea
I've
seen since we got here. I could smell those pomme frittes a mile away!
5:45 p.m.
Cleared up. Today was a good day. A lot of work and most accomplished despite rain delay.
Today was my toughest day dialogue-wise and emotionally. Elizabeth Storm (Hollis) had to
do her swan song scenes today. It's terribly cold and she was excellent despite.
6:15 p.m.
I forgot about the night shoot! Montage of Cruz and Eden around various Parisian monuments
at night. Just give me a pair of long underwear and I'll smile and kiss all you want.
Crowds of people cheered when we kissed and danced in front of the Eiffel Tower.
7:45 a.m./Thursday
Well, another day. I can't believe it. Didn't go to sleep until 12:30 last night. A nice
18-hour day. I'm wasted.
Dog Stories
Dogs are a precious thing here in Paris. But they go to the bathroom everywhere.
Needless to say we have had several "incidents." A's been especially prone to
stepping where he shouldn't. He's three in three days. He did it last night at Notre Dame
(night shoot) and Eric, poor Eric, was the designated s___ wrangler. I made Serge (our
French production manager) take photos of Eric in process which I can use to tease and
embarrass him with later. Eric is like that little kid in school that you love to tease
endlessly.
Another incident was this story that Rick told me about this man and his dog walking near
the Seine yesterday. The dog came near the location and took a major dump. Everyone
winced. Which way was the wind going? Well, the little man pulled out a clump of
tissues. We all said, "All right!" But he reached down, wiped the dog's ass and
threw the tissues on the ground. Laughter resounded. Ca va?
Footnote
I heard that the prostitute who propositioned Carlos followed (Associate Producer) Jeff
Lerner all the way to his room. Jeff thought she was asking him if he was a company.
(Translation: Do you want company?) He kept saying, "Yes, film." She kept
saying, "Sure!" Ooohkaaay.
Paris TV
Found channel 4 on Paris TV. Flipping though the channels...Mickey Mouse, CNN, Insertion,
News. Insertion? A porno channel, hard porn on regular TV. Well, this just wouldn't
do in America.
11:00 a.m./Friday
Off early. I'm so happy.
3:00 p.m.
I am going to take a nap. Went to McDonald's. The first bite sent me right back across the
ocean. Went shopping and couldn't find anything to fit. I feel so big compared to the
clothes. I am tall, but I do have to remember that I just had a baby nine-and-a-half weeks
ago and give myself a break.
The last day of shooting was beautiful. We did nice work in Luxembourg Gardens - so
incredible. I almost felt sad when Rick said, "It's a wrap." The wrap party was
great - on some guy's boat. It had an indoor pool. Our French crew really knew how to let
loose, but I had to leave at eleven; exhaustion set in.
Saturday
When I woke up, I packed and went for a walk. Wish I could have enjoyed Paris a little
more from a tourist standpoint, but all in all it was an incredible, successful, beautiful
shoot. We went halfway around the world, worked with a French crew, shot twelve episodes,
met the press, did interviews, all in five days. Odessa Films, our own team of
professionals, did an exquisite job. I hope our audience will enjoy seeing Paris through
our eyes. Now we leave. I hate to fly, but I can't wait to get home to my bed, my mail, my
script for Monday, my baby.
Our flight was canceled. We were all rerouted through different cities. Jill, the Phelps
family, Carrington (Garland), Peter (Love), Elizabeth and her boyfriend, me and mine, were
all through Washington. We had forty-five minutes to make our connection to LA. In Paris
they said they'd hold our plane so we could clear customs. They didn't. Then they wanted
to reroute us on a milk run to Boston, then LA. Julie took the bull by the horns and now
we are on a direct flight to LA on American. Incredible 767. I hate to fly but I am
enjoying
every minute of it. I'm trilled to be going home. At last. Isn't it always the case that
when you want to be going home more than anything, your flight plans turn to chaos?
Sunday
Home at last. Sleep came easy. Bills and junk mail was waiting. 8:45 a.m. call on Monday;
fourteen scenes of dialogue and post tapes. And A missed his plane.
It's good to be home. |
