Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien) is a French legend who has only grown larger since he left this world in 1991. The singer-songwriter who did it all, from wearing a yellow star as a child, to changing his name, studying art, moving into music, and linking his name to the most beautiful women of his time, lived his whole life in Paris. There he wrote, wandered, posed for photos, and above all, smoked. His life unfolded across the City of Light, from north to south and from the 9th arrondissement to the 19th, so in this article I’ve gathered the places that shaped his work and his art.
25 things you might not have known about Serge Gainsbourg
1. He changed his name from Lucien to Serge because he thought Lucien sounded like a barber’s name.
2. And yet, he named his fourth son Lucien.
3. He was married twice, and divorced both times (and all that before Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin).
4. He never had a driver’s license and never drove a car.
5. That didn’t stop him from buying a very expensive car.
The song “Ford Mustang.”
6. He didn’t perform on stage for many years because of low self-confidence.
7. He released two reggae albums. One of them features the following song, which caused a huge scandal for mocking the French national anthem:
Aux Armes Et Caetera (La Marseillaise) – Serge Gainsbourg
8. He was a devoted Anglophile and recorded most of his albums in London.
A short video showing the making of a Serge Gainsbourg song in London in 1968.
9. He had a twin sister named Liliane.
10. He moved back in with his parents after his divorce.
11. He wrote his two most famous songs in a single night:
(Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg – 69 année érotique (1969
Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg – Je T’aime,…Moi Non Plus
12. He wrote a song about David Bowie for singer Isabelle Adjani called “beau oui, comme bowie,” meaning “as handsome, yes, as Bowie.”
13. He smoked Gitanes cigarettes.
14. He wrote soundtracks for about 40 films.
15. He met Jane Birkin on the set of a film in which they both acted, called “Slogan.”
The title song of the film Slogan.
16. Right from the start, they didn’t get along, to put it mildly.
17. Jane thought his name was Serge “Bourguignon,” since she didn’t speak any French at all.
18. Serge’s father was a pianist, so music and playing instruments were a part of his childhood.
19. He never visited Israel.
20. That didn’t stop him from writing a song for Israel after the Six-Day War, “le sable et le soldat.”
21. Serge dreamed of being a painter and started studying art when he was young.
22. He used to wear white Zizi shoes by Repetto, which also became his trademark.
23. The statues displayed in his living room held special importance, and no one was allowed to move them.
24. He lost his virginity to a prostitute at age 16.
25. He loved making an especially strong piña colada.
Now that we know Serge Gainsbourg a bit better, and have taken a tour through his songs, it’s time to walk through Paris and visit the places that mattered most in his life.
A walk through Paris in the footsteps of Serge Gainsbourg
Instead of a map: under each stop’s heading you’ll find its address, and every address is a link. Click it, and the place will open right away in Google Maps.
The Ginsburg family home
Olia and Joseph Ginsburg, Russian Jews, fell in love and decided to flee their homeland, the Soviet Union, to settle somewhere better. They forged documents and arrived in Paris, following Olia’s brother, who had already immigrated to the city. Joseph found work as a musician in bars, and the family lived in a small apartment on Rue de Chine. The couple had a son named Marcel in 1922. The infant died in his crib a year and a few months later.
In 1926, a healthy daughter, Jacqueline, was born, and in 1928 the couple had twins, Liliane and Lucien Ginsburg. Liliane was born first, and only after her came little Lucien, nicknamed Lulu. That little Lulu would grow up to be quite something. The siblings grew up in a home full of music at 11 bis rue Chaptal, in the Pigalle area of Paris, until the mid-1930s. Serge was a shy child, easily mistaken for a girl, looking like a miniature version of his father, and he loved going to school. The building itself isn’t much to look at, except that a little over a month ago a plaque was unveiled there in a ceremony, marking the childhood Serge spent in this spot.
The garden named after Serge
In 1958, after changing his name and giving up his art studies, Serge released a song called “Le Poinçonneur des Lilas,” the ticket puncher of the Lilas station. The mournful song tells the story of a depressed, sad ticket puncher who is sick of working underground and dreams of changing his reality.
That ticket puncher worked at the Porte des Lilas station on line 11 of the Paris metro. The single was a success and touched listeners, at a time when a person still punched your metro ticket instead of an electronic machine. Thanks to the song, there’s now a garden named after Serge Gainsbourg near the Porte des Lilas station in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, and in 2023 a new metro station on line 11 is planned to open, named after Serge Gainsbourg.
Serge Gainsbourg’s house
The house at 5 bis rue de Verneuil has become a pilgrimage site for fans of French chanson and street art. It’s not hard to spot: on this narrow street near the Seine, it’s the lowest building around, with a securely locked gate, completely covered in layers upon layers of paintings and artwork of Serge and more.
Serge bought this house after his second divorce, and stayed there until his last night. He designed the house inspired by his beloved artist, Salvador Dalí, so the walls were painted black, and various works of art stood in the living room, some connected to Serge himself. For example: a statue of a man with a cabbage head (named after an album he released) and a giant picture of Brigitte Bardot, next to the grand piano.
In this house, Jane and Serge lived together with the girls, Kate (Jane’s daughter from a previous marriage) and Charlotte, their daughter together. As you can see, there’s no parking spot by this house, and one reason is that Serge never drove a car and never had a license. He took a taxi everywhere he needed to go, so every taxi driver in Paris knew him and had heard his stories.
The day after he died, many grieving fans gathered around his house to say their last goodbyes. In the past, there was a brief period when tours of Serge’s house were given, but that practice was stopped, and the house is now locked.
Serge Gainsbourg’s grave
Serge died in 1991, about a month before his 63rd birthday, in his bed after coming home from a night out. He was buried above his parents, in Montparnasse Cemetery. His funeral was packed with fans and loved ones, and despite the many provocations he caused in his final years and the image of the aging dandy he’d acquired, France grieved the loss of a great talent and personality. The Ginsburg family grave is always decorated with a photo, old flowers, cigarettes, metro tickets, or small statues. And even though it’s tucked out of sight, it has its own charm.
Serge in Berlin
I recently visited Berlin, and on my second-to-last night there I decided to look around, hoping I might find something connected to this singer I love, in a city he never once visited. And sure enough, I found a concept bar entirely devoted to Serge Gainsbourg. Excited, we headed over to this bar, called “Gainsbourg a Gansbarre,” tucked under the train tracks beneath the S-Bahn station called Savignyplatz. It’s a large, dim bar, with pleasant music playing from dozens of records, cocktails named things like “Brigitte Bardot,” and of course piña coladas, just the way Serge liked to make them. The whole place is decorated with photos, paintings, statues, and quotes by and about Serge, and out of the corner of my eye I even spotted the owner, who looked like a dead ringer for him.
Did you enjoy this walking tour in the footsteps of Serge Gainsbourg?
If so, why not read the article about his impossible love affair with Brigitte Bardot?
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