Stars and many anonymous came to say goodbye Monday to Jane Birkin, “ex-fan of the sixties” as she sang, during a moving funeral in the Saint-Roch church in Paris.
The ceremony took place in the presence of her daughters, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon who, unusually, carried their mother’s coffin as they entered the church.
“I can already see the void she leaves us”
Many celebrities were also present: Étienne Daho, Carole Bouquet, Catherine Deneuve, Yvan Attal, Chiara Mastroianni or Isabelle Huppert, welcomed by the artist’s manager.
Brigitte Macron and the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, also took their places in the church, whose forecourt was covered with flowers, testifying to the national turmoil aroused by the disappearance of the singer and actress, last Sunday at age 76.
“I can already see the void she leaves us. She’s my mom, our mom. Your mom, ”read Charlotte Gainsbourg, very moved, tearing tears from the anonymous, more than 1,500, gathered near the church in front of a large screen. Access to the church was reserved for the entourage.
“Mom, (…) Thank you for not being ordinary, reasonable and docile”
Lou Doillon remembered many moments shared with her mother and all her family, all testifying to the eccentricity, audacity and humor of the favorite Englishwoman of the French. She concluded: “Mom, (…) Thank you for not being ordinary, reasonable and docile. This world of tomorrow, very peaceful and reasoned, it already annoys me. »
The 1h30 ceremony was celebrated according to the Anglican rite and punctuated by poignant tributes, including that of the doctor who followed her during her leukemia. The coffin was then carried to the sound of “La Javanaise”, to the applause of the public.
Jane Birkin, Londoner, naturalized French but remained English in the collective unconscious with her delicious accent mistakes, had been part of the landscape for more than half a century and her meeting with Serge Gainsbourg at the end of the 1960s.
“Thank you Jane”
“Without her, we lack the light, I adored this committed woman artist capable of empathy for essential causes”, commented Jean-Baptiste, who came from Burgundy with a sign indicating “Thank you Jane Birkin” and “Jane Forever”.
“We came to pay tribute to the one who supported us from the start by cutting a lock of hair after the murder of Mahsa Amini” in Iran, explained Mahasti, in her fifties, also carrying a sign: “Thank you Jane, Iranian women will not forget you. »
“In love with Jane since childhood”
“She is one of the stars who transmit freedom,” commented Serge Quin, 60. “His smile is an era and a generation that offered us this spontaneity”, added Bouchra, 50 years old.
“One day I saw her at Odéon, I ran up to her and told her I loved her! She gave me a kiss and wished me a happy new year,” said Christophe Fougeray, 45, “in love with Jane since childhood” and whose music he loves as much as the films.
“Icon”
“My Jane, thanks to your talent, your elegant free beauty, your sharp, macabre and British humor, you accompanied our gloomy adolescence. We wanted to be you, or Serge, “wrote in his tribute Étienne Daho, singer who became a close friend, collaborator on the singer’s latest album. Oh ! Sorry you were sleeping…
“Go join your Serge, Romy and all the others… One more angel… Thank you Thank you, my Jane! “, for his part reacted in a message sent Monday to AFP Alain Delon, who had filmed with her in The swimming pool.
“Because she embodied freedom, that she sang the most beautiful words of our language, Jane Birkin was a French icon”, had also greeted President Macron on Twitter.
A tribute of flowers
Since the artist was discovered lifeless at her Parisian home, fans flock, sometimes with a bouquet of flowers, to 5 bis rue Verneuil in Paris. Place where she resided with Serge Gainsbourg, when the couple embodied the alliance of chic and shock, accompanied by a scent of scandal.
Flowers were also hung on the picket fence around the house the actress The swimming pool possessed in Britain. A ceremony also took place Monday at the same time in Lanillis (Finistère), where she liked to recharge her batteries.
The disappearance of the singer Di Doo Dah and Chic underweardied of natural causes according to those around her, occurred when Jane Birkin was planning to go back on stage.