Same here, it was looking (still is) like the only one I'd realistically see, so we went to France to guarentee better weather.

Incredible day: it was my birthday, and I'd been aware it was going to happen for about 15 years, so quite a build up.

We stayed in Paris and took a train north, along with everyone else living in Paris. Demented scenes: packed trains, commuters running across railway lines to try and catch any train heading north. The closest I've been to a riot, no control whatsoever. Good fun in a scary way.

The eclipse was as you described Suarve. I cannot stress the feeling of all cultural values being stripped away because it was just so incredibly shocking because the sky went out.

I was in a park with a few hundred others and it went still, all the birds went to bed and it felt like judgement day. I could have wept at the beauty of the moment, real heart-stopping stuff.

I was most impressed by not having to intellectualise how our prehistoric ancestors may have viewed it, because it cuts through your brain and you can only experience it with awe. Words don't touch it.