Currently in full promotion for his book entitled “Step by step in the night”published this Thursday, November 7 by XO editions, Bambou, whose real name is Caroline Paulus, spoke to Parisian. The last companion of Serge Gainsbourg and mother of his son Lulu looks back on her difficult childhood, and her life before meeting the famous singer. “Born in a Chinese and Vietnamese refugee camp of Lot-et-Garonne, she was placed in Public Assistance then in a host family in a village in Morvan.remind our colleagues. She explains to them that she waited so long to tell her story because she did not feel “not ready”. “And then Étienne Daho, one day, said to me: ‘Listen, you should write’. Two months later, I started. I got help. It was excellent therapy”she admitted. Rather cash in his work, Bambou justifies himself. “I heard so many stories and bullshit about me, that I came from a bourgeois background… I had to put things in their place and be as honest as possible. Including on me. When you experience this kind of childhood, you don't have a very good opinion of yourself. No one listened to me, they thought I was ugly, stupid.”she regretted.
Lulu Gainsbourg's mother obviously took the opportunity to talk to our colleagues about her meeting in 1980 with Serge. “You call him an old bastard and he calls you a puss”first reminded him The Parisian. And Bambou responded with an open heart: “It was the meeting of my lifethe Jean Valjean I was waiting for, except that I didn't meet him as a child but at 18. We saved each other.”. Together, they became parents of a little boy and shared beautiful days in the house purchased by the singer. Bambou specified that the latter looked exactly like the one on rue de Verneuil transformed into a museum. “It’s the exact copy, mahogany and black, more cozy and smaller”she began by indicating. And to detail: “A small two-story house with balconies, stairs and a small courtyard. Serge said it was his country house. We saw each other every day, but we were constantly in transit. I still live there”.
Bambou and the house on rue de Verneuil
On the transformation of the house on rue de Verneuil into a museum, Bambou, who did not comment on its opening, finally did so with our colleagues from Le Parisien. “It was important for Charlotte, because she had tons behind her. I went there three times. We have the impression that Serge is going to appear. After his death, we came back there a few times with Lulu, because he wanted to go and sleep there.”she remembered. Proud mother of Lulu, she is happy that he too has followed the path of music. “I made him practice his piano for years, he went to study in Berkeley, in the United States. At school, it was hell. He wanted to have fun there, not work. Whereas music, beating the time, the music theory dictations, it was a game”she concluded.
