I'm very sad to note that - 32 years after the death of Serge Gainsbourg - Jane Birkin has died.
Theirs may or may not have been the greatest (or even craziest) love affair of the 20th century, but it was certainly the one that I found most intriguing (and possibly the most touching).
So what, then, remains now that they are both dead? Only ashes, as they themselves anticipated?
No.
Jane and Serge leave behind a huge number of beautiful images, beautiful songs - perhaps the most beautiful ever written in French - and beautiful memories.
And, in Jane's case, she even leaves behind a beautiful Hermès bag to which she lent her name.
You can't hope for much more than that ...
Note: the title of this post is a line from a track entitled Quoi, found on the 1986 compilation album by Birkin. The song - one of my favourites - was written by Gainsbourg and Cesare De Natale (arr. Guido & Maurizio De Angelis). Click here to play here and watch the video on YouTube.