The time capsule Paris home of Serge Gainsbourg, one of France's most notorious singer-songwriters, will finally open to the public on 20 September, three decades after the musician's death.
The house on Paris' Left Bank – Maison Gainsbourg – has been a pilgrimage site for fans since the writer of Je t'aime moi non plus died in 1991.
The interior has been immaculately preserved, from the ashtrays still brimming with Gitanes cigarette butts to the baroque statues and multitude of musical instruments.
"Well, this is my house. I don't know what it is: a sitting room, a music room, a brothel, a museum," Gainsbourg said during a televised visit in April 1979.
He lived in the house from 1969, initially with British-born actress Jane Birkin, with whom he sang Je t'aime moi non plus, which was banned in several countries because of its steamy lyrics.
Museum across the road
Their daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, a hugely successful actress and singer, said she was "very happy and touched" to announce the public opening.
"I hope to offer people a unique experience that will maybe give a different way of appreciating his work," she said in a statement on Sunday.
A museum across the road will also open, tracing Gainsbourg's life and career, with a shop and piano-bar called Le Gainsbarre, after one of his alter egos.
Charlotte held back on the project for many years, and then it was delayed by the Covid pandemic.
"It was all I had left of him, so I held on to it like a treasure," she told French news agency AFP in 2021.
"But when I left for New York, I had some perspective and I understood that it had to be done - for the public, but also for my mental health. I need to let go. It needs to be a place of French heritage that is accessible."
(with AFP)
