Charlotte Gainsbourg Unpacks Her Father Serge's Legacy at Maison Gainsbourg
Maison Gainsbourg, the first cultural institution dedicated to Serge Gainsbourg, includes his legendary house at 5 bis rue de Verneuil in Paris, and nearby, at number 14, a museum, bookshop, and café-slash-piano bar. Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginsburg) lived in the house beginning in 1969. First with Jane Birkin for nearly 10 years, whom he met on the set of the film Slogan, and then with his partner Bambou. One might have seen some glimpses of the home in the pages of magazines, so we know the interior walls—black—the Steinway grand piano in the living room, the black and white floors, and the standout art pieces. To enter this home is like entering a sacred place.
A visit to 5 bis rue de Verneuil is not accompanied by a guide, but by the gentle voice of Charlotte Gainsbourg through an audio system. Putting on the headphones means effectively stopping time. As soon as the door is pushed open, the journey begins: “Come on, I’ve got the keys, I’m opening the door for you...” It feels like we’re alone with her. Charlotte shares some memories, like not going to the cinema or the museum with her father, but watching all the best American films not yet released in France, purchased on VHS from a shop on the Champs-Élysées. Or discovering literature like La Pléiadein his personal library. Taking baths with her mother, Jane, who loved to cover her with talcum powder with a huge puff. Having nightmares and sending her older half-sister Kate Barry to wake her mother, because Charlotte was afraid to disturb her parents. Letting her father wake up slowly in the afternoon. Tidying up the inside of her mother’s bag. Seeing her parents come home from nightclubs while she was on her way to school. Police officers and taxi drivers who were invited over for drinks.
Since Serge’s death in 1991, the house has remained intact, with its guillotine windows and bamboo courtyard. One can observe each piece behind a black stanchion. We discover low ceilings, narrow rooms, and dim light. The living room is hidden, just behind the front door. There are several pianos, but also a table full of police badges (Serge loved to collect them). We see a sofa and several armchairs. On the coffee table, we see a phone that was ultra-modern for the time. But above all, there are objects, photos—including a large print of Brigitte Bardot (with whom he visited the house for the first time)—gold discs, and paintings everywhere. On the other side of the corridor is the kitchen, covered with woodwork, and with a small, transparent fridge, similar to those seen in restaurants. Bottles of great wines, especially the castle High Brion, Serge’s favorite; a small television set; and a walled door that, for a long time, opened onto Charlotte’s childhood bedroom. The house is dressed in a dark printed carpet that runs all through the stairs and bedrooms.
Upstairs, there is Serge’s room, which he shared with Jane Birkin and then with Bambou, in which sits a huge screen in Moucharabié. In the hallway, you pass a minimalist dressing room; hanging are a military jacket and a striped suit. Above, you see his denim shirts; below are Serge’s famous white Repetto Zizi oxfords, which he wore without socks, even in winter. At the bottom is the bathroom, with a bathtub and perfume bottles on the counter. In another room off to the side is where Charlotte and Kate played in a pile of their mother’s clothes. It was the only room that could not be restored. When Jane moved out, it was transformed into a room of antique dolls that Charlotte confides she was terribly afraid of. Finally, there is the library desk and its huge brown leather English dentist’s chair. This room is full of anatomy books, but also books on painting, which Gainsbourg had studied at the Beaux-Arts before becoming a composer-musician-performer-painter-screenwriter-director.
The house is full of stories, books, objects, and records, but above all emotions. The day Serge died, Charlotte discovered him in bed, asleep, a leg out of bed, and she settled down by his side. She remembers all the fans who came to shout, “I came to tell you I’m leaving.” Today, Charlotte sees the house like this: “For me, it becomes a place of worship, of pilgrimage, of memory. I turn the key. I close the door behind me. Time has stood still. I allow myself a journey in my memory. The smells have remained. I keep the memory alive. In silence.”
A little farther down the street, at number 14 rue de Verneuil, is the museum, a long corridor with, on one side, a wall filled with letters, scores, press clippings, souvenirs, clothes, and also important works, such as the sculpture of the The Man With the Head of a Cabbage by Claude Lalanne, the original manuscript of “La Marseillaise” by Rouget de Lisle, and La Chasse aux Papillons by Salvador Dalí. On the other side, screens chronicle key periods of Serge’s life—his origin as the child of Russian Jewish emigrants; his childhood in Paris; his painting studies; his time with Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, and Bambou; his children; his compositions, such as “Le Poinçonneur des Lilas'' and “La Javanaise;” his films, such as Je T’aime Moi Non Plus in 1976 with Jane Birkin and Joe D’Alessandro, and Charlotte for Ever in 1986; his concerts, his TV shows....
"For me, it becomes a place of worship, of pilgrimage, of memory. I turn the key. I close the door behind me. Time has stood still."
When the museum tour is over, by taking a hidden staircase into the basement, you can discover the café and piano bar, the Gainsbarre, which offers a lunch menu inspired by hotel room service and British tea rooms, and a cocktail menu including some of Gainsbourg’s favorites, such as the Gibson, the Terrible, and the famous 102. The piano bar recalls the musician’s beginnings at Madame Arthur in Pigalle, the Club de la Forêt in Le Touquet, and Milord l’Arsouille at the Palais-Royal. The show begins at 8 p.m., with three pianists: Philippe Ours, Ciarri Winter, and Florent Garcimore.
For some, their time spent at Maison Gainsbourg will be one of remembrance; for others, that of discovery. But one thing is certain: it will be impossible to remain indifferent.
