"Is it good here, Juliette Gréco?"
»Tatsuo asks us when he arrives in front of the church of Saint-Germain-des-Près (Paris VIe).
For him as for many Japanese, the French singer, who died on September 23 in Ramatuelle (Var) at the age of 93, is an icon, an international star.
And this septuagenarian is surprised that there is not the crowd of great days for the funeral of the interpreter of "La Javanaise" and "Jolie Môme", this Monday afternoon in Paris.
The health rules linked to Covid-19 and the rain have showered many wills.
Behind the barriers erected on the Place de Saint-Germain-des-Près, there are hardly more than 200 admirers, and in the church, no more than 300 guests.
The white coffin enters at 2:30 p.m., preceded by three standard bearers, followed by its decorations (Commander of the Legion of Honor, Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit, Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters) placed on thick cushions and her granddaughter, Julie.
"A cross is placed on the coffin, as Madame Gréco wished," the priest points out.
She was a baptized woman, who loved churches.
She also rests with a rosary in her hands.
"
Former President François Hollande and his companion Julie Gayet at the end of Juliette Gréco's funeral. / LP / Yann Foreix
"You are back, madame, to Saint-Germain, in this neighborhood which suits you so well, of which you have been the indomitable muse and heroine".
Journalist Didier Varrod tenderly introduces the ceremony and the various speakers.
Catherine Ceylac recalls how much Juliette Gréco, who wanted to become a dancer because she found that we spoke too much, often had direct and definitive words.
Including this sentence: "I don't want to be touched when I'm dead, as I was forced to do with my grandfather."
"
The only one to call her Juliette and to speak to her in her homage, is the creator of the Ramatuelle festival, the village where she had settled in 1988 and where she passed away, at 93, on September 23. .
Jacqueline Franjou recalled their thirty-six years of laughter, her "heart to the left, but not sectarian", made us smile when she spoke of the "soldier of love, always standing, sometimes lying down".
“You had fans all over the world, to Japan.
I was there when Kofi Annan
(Editor's note: the former Secretary General of the United Nations)
declared his love for you, when you received a letter in which Pope Benedict XVI told you his joy in listening to your songs.
"
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In the front row, Keiko cannot agree.
She came from Japan to say goodbye to her forty-four-year-old friend, of whom she was the very young translator and then the concert producer.
Around her are seated Brigitte Macron, François Hollande and Julie Gayet, Jack Lang, but ultimately few artists: Christophe Miossec, Francis Lalanne, Catherine Ringer, Abd Al Malik.
The voice of Rita Mitsouko is the only one to sing and concludes this particularly sober religious ceremony with a touching version of "There is no longer after (in Saint-Germain-des-Près)", which Guy Béart had offered to Juliette Gréco in 1960 but that he could just as well have written for this sad day.
About 200 admirers made the trip for a final tribute to the singer.
“Juliet's voice was missing,” regrets a lady as she leaves the church.
His wish is granted.
The loudspeakers broadcast on the square “Si tu s'imagines”, then “Jolie Môme”, “There is no more after”, while the coffin leaves under applause.
The relatives go by bus to the Montparnasse cemetery, where Juliette Gréco will find her last love, the pianist Gérard Jouannest, who has been buried there since May 2018.
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Adorina watches them go.
We don't really know if it was the rain or the tears that made his rimmel run.
“I am so touched, admits this 28-year-old film student.
I didn't know her personally, but she was a role model for me.
It was thanks to her that I read Sartre at 14, that I discovered Cocteau, that I found my style.
I know all of her songs by heart, like
Les dames de la Poste
, which is an ode to the emancipation of women.
When I was a teenager, I already dressed in black.
People thought I was goth.
But no, I just wanted to become Juliette Gréco.
"