his last home in Sète, a “cemetery for the poor” facing the pond

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FRANCE 3

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France 3 Languedoc-Roussillon, L. Chadefaux, E.Garibaldi – France 3

France Televisions

Georges Brassens would have been 100 years old, Friday October 22. He rests in his hometown of Sète, alongside his parents and his muse. Unlike several personalities, he is not buried facing the sea, but in another cemetery.

40 years after the death of Georges Brassens, a crowd of admirers continues to come to meditate every day at his grave. Visitors come from all over France. “He was a great poet, a great singer”, confides an admirer. “He rocked my whole childhood and it is with emotion that I am here.” The marine cemetery of Sète (Hérault) is located facing the sea, and has several celebrities, including Jean Vilar and the poet Paul Valery. Georges Brassens is not buried there. During his lifetime he had bought the site of his grave in another cemetery, known as the “cemetery of the poor”.

“Brassens was a very modest person, who was rather close to the people”, explains Bernard Lonjon, author and specialist on Georges Brassens. The singer would also have liked to be facing the Thau lagoon. “The Thau pond is really his identity, this is where he went boating, this is where he had fun, where he took refuge”, adds Bernard Lonjon. Everyone can find the meaning they want to explain the choice of Georges Brassens for his grave. What is certain is that the singer is buried in the city he loved so much, Sète, and will thus remain forever “the eternal summer visitor”.


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