Singer Thalie, who knows and appreciates Françoise, lends us a song that she performs, with the kind permission of the copyright holders of its author, Michel Tonnerre, whom we also thank.

But what does a “sailor” song have to do with this site?

Françoise was very attached to her Breton and maritime roots. A direct ancestor, a marine carpenter in Saint-Malo, founded a prosperous business in the 1800s on the Île de France (Mauritius), which gave him the opportunity to refit ships, including Surcouf’s.

The theme of the sea, its privateers, its libertarian buccaneering, was close to Françoise’s heart, and is found again and again in her work. And, at her request, her ashes were scattered off the Gulf of Morbihan, carried by an emblematic Nantes sailboat, Le Naoned, an 11 m 50 Marconi sloop.

In 1959, Françoise published Le Gabier de Surcouf. We don’t have it, so this was an opportunity for us to include this beautiful song in the notice. There aren’t many female singers in this repertoire, and getting behind the singer-songwriter, Michel Tonnerre, is anything but easy. Thalie pulls it off brilliantly, and in my opinion, she has done the best cover of the song. And I’m convinced that Françoise would have loved it. Questions of breath, images, roots, interpretation… (Vincent)
*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) ***