The Rolling Stones

Charlie Watts

I saw the Rolling Stones when they sang at the Paris Olympia in 1965. They stayed in a hotel called “Hotel de Paris” which was a block on the Boulevard de la Madeleine, rue de Seze and rue Godot de Mauroy (where now stands the Relais Madeleine that I manage..!) They stayed always very close to their venue. This hotel was practical for the singers who sang at the Olympia for several good reasons : it was less than one hundred metres from the Olympia and it had several side and back entrances apart from the main one which enabled them to “run away” from the fans that were like me posted around for autographs…! But we had some sort of organization between us and we watched all exits.. on this occasion I remember the Stones came out from the back entrance and litterally ran across the boulevard to an optician shop called Lissac I managed to get their signatures before the running started and also just before the shop… They then closed the shop…