Harry had been to France when he was at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School on a school trip, but the first time he went to the country with a member of One Direction was in April 2011, just after The X Factor tour had finished. Harry and Louis decided to go skiing in Courchevel, France together because they knew they would be really busy in the months that followed and wouldn’t have time for a holiday. They took two of their friends with them and had a blast. Harry had never skied before so fancied giving it a go.

While they were there, a couple of fans spotted them and tweeted, ‘16/04/2011 proud to say I met @louis_tomlinson and @ harry_styles in a bowling alley in courcheval’ and ‘I met you in courchevel. Best day of my life’.

The paparazzi didn’t expect them to go on a skiing holiday and the boys kept where they were going a secret from the press. If they’d gone somewhere hot, they probably would have been followed. Two photos did appear on Twitter though – one of them wearing their skis and the other of Harry with a fan on the slopes. Harry really enjoyed himself and in December 2012, he went skiing in Utah, USA with his girlfriend at the time, Taylor Swift. He ended up hurting his chin though, and had to wear a bandage on it over Christmas.

The boys spent Valentine’s Day 2012 in Paris as they were in France promoting ‘One Thing’. They had lots of interviews in the daytime and then in the evening they went out for a meal together. They might have had an unromantic Valentine’s Day but they still enjoyed themselves. Harry tweeted, ‘Happy Valentine’s Day!!! We couldn’t do this if it wasn’t for you and we love you for that. Hope everyone has a lovely day! Oui Oui!!. Xx’.

Niall told his followers, ‘Happy Valentine’s day everyone, love you all so much. if it wasnt for you there would be no 1D’.

During their stay, Niall tried to speak in French to any fans and interviewers they met because he’d loved his French classes at school. He’d never been to France before, so it was the first time he could show off his skills in a real setting.

If One Direction superfan Francia had to describe French Directioners in two words, she would say ‘dedicated’ and ‘crazy’. ‘Every time they come to Paris, thousands of girls come to see them, even if it is just to see them for a few seconds,’ she says. ‘I know because I am one of those girls. I have witnessed girls crying because they didn’t get to see them and sometimes it is heartbreaking.

‘A lot of French Directioners travel over to England to see them perform in concerts over there. We also do different projects to show Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn how much we support them. We did a flash mob in front of the Eiffel Tower and it was shown on television. We also meet up to socialise. French Directioners made a really strong impression on the boys when they came to Paris for the second time because it rapidly turned into madness, and Liam even lost a shoe! I think that was the time when the boys realised their impact overseas. Because of that, we are often considered very crazy and excitable.

‘I can’t really tell what difference there is between French fans and the others, but perhaps their interviews in our country are very memorable (for example, their first interview for Le Grand Journal in ‘La Boîte A Questions’ was epic; the boys were just goofy and fun, just as we love them). Apart from being talented and handsome, the fact that some of them can actually speak French a little is definitely a plus for us, which makes them even more attractive.’

They were also asked to raise the temperature in less than 30 seconds. Louis pretended to boil a kettle, Niall and Zayn pretended to run, Liam jumped up and down, Harry did star jumps and then rubbed his nipples. When Louis’ pretended the kettle had boiled, he imitated throwing it over the others, and they all screamed as if they had been burned. The boys love any excuse to mess around and have a laugh.

They had to impersonate one of their fans, so Zayn put on a squeaky voice and said, ‘Louis, I love your bum!’

Their final challenge was to strip tease, so Harry started to take off his jacket and Zayn went to open his shirt until Niall pressed the button to end the interview.

SALOMÉ’S STORY

Salomé is 18 and from Troyes in north-central France. She became a 1D fan in January 2011. She met Harry, Niall, Liam, Zayn and Louis on Valentine’s Day 2012 in Paris. She had heard on Twitter that they would be at the Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées and knew she had to go see them. There were 700 girls there, all very excited. Salomé thought the boys looked gorgeous: Zayn was wearing a white T-shirt and a leather jacket, Niall and Liam were wearing white T-shirts as well, Louis was wearing a maroon sweater and Harry was wearing a white T-shirt with a grey blazer.

She says, ‘The boys were amazing and adorable and, when I met them, I was about to give them my CD to get it signed but a security guard told me they weren’t allowed to sign anymore. Niall saw I was a bit disappointed so he did, like, an ‘I’m sorry’ face and then he smiled at me and took my hand. It was amazing. Then I saw Zayn, Liam and Louis, and got to shake their hands.

‘Then Harry, aha … Let’s be clear, I love ALL the boys, but I have a huge crush on Harry. I was just speechless, I tried to explain to him how much he means to me, and he said, “Je t’aime,” which means “I love you” in French. I couldn’t move or speak, I wasn’t able to do anything and I know it’s stupid, because I’m not the only one who loves them, but the fact they knew my existence for one minute makes me feel good.

EMMA’S STORY

Emma is 18 and from Paris. She has met the boys four times. Harry follows her on Twitter. The first time she met them was Valentine’s Day 2012 at a signing. The second time was when they were recording a TV show called Le Grand Journal. Because it was the school holidays, lots of fans waited for them to arrive at the train station and it was very manic. The boys got mobbed by fans and Liam even lost a shoe. Emma had a ticket to be in the audience and so got to stand really close to them. As they sang ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, Zayn made eye contact with Emma and lots of girls got jealous; poor Emma ended up getting hit by the girls around her – not nice at all.

The third time Emma met the boys was on 11 November 2012 at a press conference. She says, ‘As 1D only stay a day in Paris when they come to promote their albums, they decided to give a press conference. It was their first one. Only four fans were there and I was one of them. People from magazines asked them some stuff about their new album, their new life as famous people, etc. 1D acted as usual. Some of their answers were quite random; whenever they got asked questions about girls, they would look at each other and smile. Liam almost fell off the stage at one point when Louis split his water bottle.

‘The fourth time I met them was at a special showcase. It was a private showcase, so fans could only get tickets if they had won a radio competition. I, however, was invited by the boys’ management because I promote the boys in France. It was amazing to see them live because it was the first time since The X Factor tour that I had seen them perform. They were so confident! It impressed me how, in two years, they had gotten used to the stage and are now able to ‘play’ with their voices, which are now so much more mature. They flirted a lot with fans during the performance. I took a poster with my Twitter name and Harry recognised it and waved. It’s incredible how they remember the fans they have met before or that they have followed on Twitter. When they’re allowed to take pictures with fans, they’re so sweet and get as close as possible to them.’

MARINE’S STORY

Marine is 16 and from Montpellier, a town in the south of France. She met the boys on 2 November 2011 at Le Bourget Airport in Paris. It was 1.30am and the boys were pretty tired from their flight. She managed to speak to Liam, Harry and Zayn briefly, and Niall gave her a wave. When the boys were in their car, Marine and her friends tried to run alongside the vehicle but Paul from the 1D security team told them that it was dangerous to follow because they were going too fast, so Marine stopped.

She went home to sleep but then went to the hotel where she thought the boys were staying at 1pm in the hope of catching a glimpse of them coming back from their showcase. She managed to see Liam through the glass of their vehicle but decided that the best place to wait for them would be back at the airport, as they could be flying out that night.

‘I bought a French flag with my friends Julie, Audrey, Alexane and Agathe,’ Marine says. ‘And we wrote our nicknames in French and English. When we saw the boys, Harry took the flag from us and said, “Merci.” He also signed my yearbook and posed for photos with the others.

‘I would say to anyone who wants to meets the boys that it is possible; you just need to make it happen. I had to wait for 12 hours but it was well worth it.’

If you want to follow Marine on Twitter, her Twitter name is @CatchStyles.