In tune with Edith Piaf

As legend goes, Edith Piaf was born on the doorsteps of the steeply climbing rue de Belleville, number 72. Her legend followed her faithfully, though, and 40 years after her death in 1963, the Hotel de Ville celebrated her anniversary with a brilliant maison de poupée style exhibit at 29, rue de Rivoli. The show designed by Hélène Robert and Anne Carles of arc-en-scène.

"Merci, un millions de merci, monsieur Delanoé", cries an old lady, tears in her eyes, as I edge past in a club-style lighting. The rather narrow space has been turned into a magnifying glass of the life and times of France's greatest music phenomenon by the magic of her voice that runs in loops, and stunning black and white photographs and films.

The space is divided into a sequence of narrow rooms each representing a time and "lieu" of la mome's life. The street-life of Paris, Belleville, her parents; her first show at the Gerny's: discovered by its owner, Louis Leplée, a homosexual who was later murdered - and the photograph of the police questioning a broken mome Piaf in his establishment is so catching that the rest of the show is just a dream walk through the existence of this magnetic woman; she "did" all the great music halls and clubs in Paris; in New York she meets Marcel Cerdan, the French world champion, and the photograph of Cerdan hitting Tony Zale in a room dressed in pink roses with pink netting makes kitsch a commodity in an environment of an Andy Warhol dream world only last century's leading singer could incite.

Finally you find her original tiny black dress and her platform high heeled tiny shoes - like the shoes of a princes - to raise her in front of millions as though she still stood there.

Edith Piaf was born Edith Giovanna Gassion at the hopital Tenon, rue de la Chine, on december 19, 1915. Her mother was a street singer and bohemian, her father, a contorsioniste of some renown, Alphonse Gassion; yet like every one else, he's mobilized to the front, leaving his baby girl behind. The Big War is on. When he returned on a leave he found his kid living with his mother in law, Aà¯cha Maillard, a "dresseuse de puces"- running a flea circus - whose life consisted in drowning her fleas in gros rouge; Edith must've been quite relieved when her father showed up and rescued her from this squalor.

Short of better choices, and being on the road often, he drops Edith off in Normandy, at his mother's hotel. Mama Tine, as she was known, actually ran a bordello. Edith's adolescent education must've been rich in psychology, yet always lacking love.

Later she performed with her father on the streets, and they returned to Paris, to live in a hotel of 115, rue de Belleville.

Edith started singing in Pigalle, making acquaintance with the Parisian underworld of pimps, crooks and gangsters.

She was discovered by elegant Louis Leplée one night and invited to sing at his club, le Gerny's. Her dream had come true. Paris was rocking at Bricktops on Montmartre, Josephine Baker was a crowd pleaser, and now she would meet Charles Trenet, Mistinguette and Maurice Chevalier. Leplée changed her identity to "Piaf". He called her piaf, like a sparrow, and mome, like a kid, and she became la mome Piaf.

Like a sparrow she appeared with her small body singing her lungs out, quickly catching the attention of the new media, the radio, and signing contracts for radio shows. When Leplée was murdered, she is deeply implicated through her connection in the underworld. At that point a wealthy Parisian saves her, Raymond Asso.

The large nosed Frenchman introduces her to culture and educates her as long as he can. The war is approaching, life quickly rolls along. In 1940 she befriends Cocteau who writes a play with her, Le bel indifférent, which is an enormous success. Edith in the meantime runs off with another musician, Paul Meurisse.

When the Germans invaded Paris, she follows Meurisse down south and stays in the demilitarized zone for a while, touring. She's now a star. And as a star she returns to Paris to fill the cabarets. She moves on top of another brothel on rue Paul Valery, from where she reigns in the Paris night scene. The Germans tolerate her presence, both fearing and admiring her. They dare only censor "L'Accordeoniste" by Michel Elmer, of Jewish background. Edith helps Elmer flee the country, saving his life.

After the liberation she visits New York and is rescued from a first dismissive performance by Virgil Thomson's brilliant intuition when he described her as a great star who should not leave America. She starts a new series of performances at The Versailles, where serendipity introduces the great love of her life.

Of her life rich in love stories, she could not have missed meeting Marcel Cerdan. Cerdan was given a world title opportunity and beat world Middleweight champion Tony Zale. Cerdan became a world champion by knocking out Zale in 1948. Cerdan was a French star. He came, like herself, from a modest background in North Africa.

He was married and had three children who were living in Casablanca. Their relationship had the flavor of scandal, and the press soon picked up on it. It was the richest time for both. Soon they moved into a palace in Paris.

But when Cerdan lost against Jake LaMotta things started going wrong. Eager to win his title back and fight LaMotta, and too hasty to join his love, Edith Piaf, he took a plane. The plane crashed in the Azores and all of Edith Piaf's hope for the grand amour where left in ashes. She stood firm in front of the crowd that night, until she collapsed, having dedicated the evening to her lost love.

All the men she sought and shared later, as she herself confessed "to distract herself", only left this bitter wound like a festering abscess in her soul. Looking for an ideal love and partner, she always fell short of her expectations. She devoured men in need of love, to replace the love she lacked as a child.

She gave birth or contributed to a cradle of singers of her generation: Yves Montand, Charles Aznavour, George Moustaki, Jean-Louis Jaubert of the Compagnons de la music; but she gave birth to some of the most memorable French songs. La Vie en Rose she wrote herself, others where written under her direction. She always shared her energy and made musicians and song writers - paroliers - participate in her creations. But there runs one thread through her life and that is love, and how you find it, and then you lose it... Edith Piaf lies buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery yet all her songs are out there and still steal your heart away: padam padam padam...