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Tribute to Johnny Hallyday: we drove with 200 bikers fans of the rocker

2020-06-16T06:49:26.991Z


This Sunday, on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the birth of Johnny Hallyday, we did a motorcycle road trip between Tarbes and Lourdes


It is one of the miracles that have marked the life of Johnny Hallyday. On August 27, 1967, the rocker emerged unscathed from an accident in Tarbes. In the dangerous Ger coast, his Lamborghini gets out of the way and fits into an acacia tree. Fifty-three years later, another miracle happened this Sunday in Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées), a few hours from the 77th anniversary of the birth of Johnny.

In his memory, a passionate fan, Didier Massot, 61, managed to bring together in this period of progressive deconfinement 200 biker friends from all over the region for a 140 km motorcycle ride between Tarbes and Lourdes. This 61-year-old Tarbais, at the head of a building company, dedicated his life to his idol. Last year, the mayor of Toulouse called on him to shine the inauguration of the Johnny Hallyday esplanade.

"I came because here there are only diehard fans"

VIDEO. Our road trip with 200 bikers fans of the rocker

"I'm trying to give him back what he gave me," said Didier Massot modestly, to whom Laeticia offered a ring from his man in thanks. It's amazing how many points I have in common with Johnny. I had a complicated childhood, two Porsches at the same time as him, two little girls the age of Jade and Joy. When he died, I had a heart attack. It was my wife who brought me back to life, telling me that we would one day go to his grave in Saint-Barth. As soon as I mention her name, tears come to me. And that so many people are there for him today, it's very moving. "

On the handlebars of a Harley loaned by his wife, Jamila, we have the privilege of riding in the heart of the buzzing procession. It is symbolically the sparkling blue Cadillac of the singer who opens the way for 170 motorcycles. "I came because here there are only diehard and loyal fans," comments Jean-François Gobertier, the Annecy entrepreneur who bought it in 2017 for the benefit of La Bonne Etoile (Editor's note: the charity of which Laeticia Hallyday is the co-founder) . Johnny went away loved by everyone but when I was in my final year in 1970, I was the only one to listen to him. "

The blue Cadillac, which belonged to Johnny, paved the way for motorcycles. LP / Fred Dugit  

Among those who trace the road behind him, many were in front of the Madeleine for the funeral of the rockstar, in December 2017. Like Marie-Hélène, of Toulouse, who had seen her idol on stage 300 times in 50 years. Or Mimi and Pierre, who stuck two large photos of the jailer on the windshield of their motorcycle. “We also made the trip last year to his grave in Saint-Barth, reports this couple from Palois. Today, we could only be there. This type of event allows you to revive it. "

At each break, Johnny's voice echoes through the loudest speakers. There is a majority of Harley Davidson and quite a few motorcycle clubs. Les Bik'Hearts des Landes, les Bielles d'Auch, the Stars Club de Pau, Les Liberty's Riders d'Artix, du Béarn… We are on the road with the Wild Hoaks Tribe, the Harley motorcycle club in Tarbes. Its president, Philippe, did not sleep overnight. “It's a fantastic moment that we live, admit, impressed, the quadra. Johnny is part of the biker universe. "

"This is the kind of road trip that Johnny would have loved to do"

If there is anyone who knows it by heart, it is Pierre Billon. The one who has been his friend for forty years, wrote and produced records for him and introduced him to the motorcycle is on the road. "This is the kind of road trip he would have loved to do, admits the dashing septuagenarian. We made three big ones together, but never with so many motorcycles. If I hadn't come, the other one up there would shoot me by the feet in the night. "

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The motorcycle ride begins and ends with honking horns in front of the fire stations and the hospitals of Tarbes and Lourdes. We meander to the top of the Tourmalet pass, overtaking grinning cyclists and cows surprised by so much noise. On the road, the engines take people out on the sidewalks, giving the impression of a tour of France before time.

The bikers went to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Lourdes, for a mass. LP / Frédéric Dugit  

We ride for a time with Pierre Billon riding an Indian. After singing and laughing the day before with his friends, he ends his journey this Sunday at 4 p.m. with a more solemn moment. After 140 km of road, the bikers meet in the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire basilica, in Lourdes, for a mass in memory of Johnny, as there will be one this Monday in the church of La Madeleine in Paris .

It is the chaplain of the bikers of Lourdes, Don Pascal, who animates this very musical mass. Near the altar, a photo of the icon is posed with candles. For the first time since the start of the journey, the rules of social distancing are respected. Everyone wears a mask, you receive hydroalcoholic gel at the entrance and there are no more than three per bench. "La Madeleine is a place of pilgrimage," explains the young priest. Here it is a gift place. A birthday present that we give to Johnny Hallyday to thank him for all those he has given us. "

The priest gives a very moved Pierre Billon a rosary for Laeticia, "very attached to Lourdes", and diffuses in the church a message of this one. "I would have loved to be with you a few hours before his birthday," she admits. I join in your prayers and express my gratitude to you. I know how proud and happy Johnny would be to see all of his friends gathered for him. We all try to tame his absence, he who was our inspiration, our light, our reason for living. "

Source: leparis

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