FRANCE: PARIS: CHARLES TRENET FUNERAL

Описание: (23 Feb 2001) French/Nat

Fans crowded into Paris' Madeleine church on Friday for the funeral of legendary singer Charles Trenet while hundreds of people, many bearing flowers, gathered at the church's gates to follow the religious service on loudspeakers.

Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and singer Charles Aznavour were among the 600 mourners admitted to the church on Paris's Right Bank to say goodbye to the man that Jean Cocteau once called France's "last troubadour".

Police rerouted traffic during the one-and-a-half hour ceremony, giving right of way to hundreds of fans lined up around the church.

Some held photos of the singer, who was known for his tilted-back hat and buttonhole carnation.

During the service, a children's choir sang some of his classics, including "La Mer" (The Sea), the song that brought Trenet world renown.

Monsignor Jean-Michel Di Falco, who conducted the service, said Trenet "touched hearts by spreading optimism and joy and by giving hope".

The singer's body was to be cremated at Paris' Pere Lachaise cemetery.

His ashes were to be scattered in his hometown of Narbonne, in southern France.

Trenet, who wrote nearly a thousand songs over more than six decades, died Sunday of a stroke at age 87.

SOUNBDBITE: (French)
"He represents an entire generation, of songs, of real songs, of real words, the best of France. All that we loved, and all that I love, unfortunately has gone with him."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop

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