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Briggite BardotActress, singer, model and absolute icon of French sensuality in the 20th century, He died this Sunday at the age of 91, according to the foundation that bears his name. The gorgeous blonde, who captivated everyone in her first film appearances with her charisma and overwhelming beauty, had given up her career and public life at a young age. At the age of 40, he said goodbye to the world of show business and confined himself to the residence where he lived until his last days. It is a modest house, but located in a paradise on the edge of the Mediterranean, on the French Riviera, surrounded by natural beauty.
The Madrague is the name of the coastal property that the star and bombshell of the 50s and 60s chose to retire and live the quietest years of their lives, far from the hustle and bustle of show business and the mandates of fame. The place is on the outskirts of the coastal town Saint Tropezin the southeast of France. It has its own pier and is also the place from which Bardot He runs his foundation, which, after leaving the studio, is dedicated to his great passion: protecting, caring for and defending animal rights.
“I am the Madrague”the star confessed in one of the few interviews she gave after her retirement from artistic activity to highlight the intertwining of this place with her own life.
The great romance between Brigitte Bardot and Saint-Tropez began many years before her 91st birthday. It was in 1956 when the young actress, barely 22 years old, starred in the now legendary film in this natural setting. And God created womanThe film was directed by Roger Vadim, who was her discoverer and later her first husband.
Through the impact of this film, the small fishing village on the French Riviera became an unmissable destination for the jet set and international elite.
But until then, the rising French star, who was born in Paris in 1934, did not know what his future residence on the Mediterranean would become. This happened a few years later. When Bardot was filming another of her classics in Seville, Spain, La Femme and Le Pantin, In 1959, her parents from France told her that they had seen the house in Saint-Tropez that she had always dreamed of. It was actually the city The Madrague.
Apparently the vehemence of the interpreter’s parents prompted them to be there right away. She immediately flew and discovered a place that fascinated her. It was love at first sight in this small Mediterranean-style house, which, thanks to its lush vegetation and seclusion, also offered the necessary privacy for the times when she was in the sights of all the paparazzi as a global star. He acquired it shortly after his first visit.
But over the years The Madrague For a retired diva it was supposed to be a kind of temple of silence and isolation; in the 1960s the place was a center of frivolity and exuberance. Brigitte Bardot He hosted wonderful parties there, which were also attended by other celebrities, e.g Alain Delon And Jean-Paul Belmondo.
This was also the backdrop for her later third husband, the German photographer and playboy Günter Sachs would be an incredible proof of love for the actress. The man boarded a helicopter and dropped about 10,000 rose petals over his lover’s home, gardens and pool.
Naturally, so many movements in the place and in the star’s life attracted the attention of photographers from various media, who besieged the diva with their cameras. This forced them to build high fences around the land, which over the years became walls, and even to request the intervention of the judiciary to prevent their privacy from being violated.
Starting in 1974, the loud glamor that surrounded the Mediterranean city turned into peaceful calm. The actress announced to the world that she was quitting her career. He was just over 40 years old and had a career that spanned 47 films and more than 60 songs. “I have already given my beauty and my youth to men. Now I will give my wisdom and my experience to animals,” she said at the time of her retirement, giving a clear indication of where her existence would continue.
Over the years, the passion for defending animals became the focus of the diva’s activities. In 1986 he founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation to protect the rights of these creatures, which was recognized as non-profit in 1992.
Out of The Madraguewhere she was also surrounded by animals, the diva ran her foundation, which consists of four animal shelters in different parts of the country. The Azou marein Normandy, where around 1,100 animals live together; Montpontin the Dordogne, with 1,100 specimens, including dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, sheep, birds, cows and rodents; and Bazooches near Paris, where around 600 farm animals live alongside dogs and cats. In many cases, all of these animals are rescued from illegal slaughterhouses and slaughter networks or confiscated from abusive owners based on a court order.
“Without the animals I would have committed suicide,” he said. Bardot as noted in the publication Architectural Digest, It also says that the French nonagenarian sold her jewelry, property and personal items to protect these creatures. In addition, the actress and singer had a cemetery for her wards on her property. “These are all animals that I love and that have lived here and that have died either through illness or accident. They are buried here and I come to see them,” said the owner of The Madrague in 1983.
Beyond her intensive activity as a protagonist, the protagonist of The contempt He also spent part of his time in La Madrague reading and answering letters from fans around the world that continued to reach him.
Even though she had retired more than 50 years ago, the blows of fate of fame continued to hit her every day. Shiploads of tourists drove past his house every day, making it an attraction for visitors to Saint-Tropez. And the paparazzi also looked for a postcard of her in her Mediterranean retreat from time to time.
But despite these incursions into his territory, Brigitte Bardot I had the immense comfort of nature. Shortly after her 90th birthday, in an interview with the French magazine Gala, the actress vividly recounted what she perceived from her bedroom window: “Nature, the trees, the sky. I hear the birds singing, I see my animals. I love to see them. My mare, my donkey, my dogs, my cats, my pigs, my funny goats… I watch them. And I let my mind, my spirit revolve between them.”
The once erotic bombshell wasn’t alone in her coastal paradise. Bardot had lived since 1992 Bernard d’Ormaleher fourth husband. Although in the above interview, the diva confessed that she saw him “very rarely”. She explained: “We meet at night, but we live parallel lives. So yes, he is there, let’s say, when he has time for it.”
When it comes to life as a couple, the French star admitted that she can’t live alone. “Contrary to what you think, I am not that independent,” he claimed, “I always needed the presence, the presence of a man.”
However, the former actress seemed to live a very peaceful and fulfilled life in her isolated life in her natural paradise and by no means missed her prime as a famous personality. She herself had confessed to AFP: “What makes me feel good is the way I see life, my interest in nature, my escape from humanity. I’m fleeing from humanity and I have a quiet loneliness that feels very good to me.”
The relationship between the Saint-Tropez estate and the French film star was so strong that there is even a song called “La Madrague” sung by the star himself. Brigitte Bardot. Although she was not the composer, authors Jean-Max Rivière and Gérard Bourgeois relied on the actress to breathe life into this 1963 piece that tells of nostalgia and the memorable summers of this place.
A little over a year ago, Brigitte Bardot He celebrated his 90th birthday in La Madrague, the place where he lived for decades and which was already part of his life. Surrounded by nature, with the sound of the waves in the background and in a house without luxury, the woman, whose beauty several generations sighed for, celebrated a new year of life.
When asked on this occasion how she plans to celebrate such an important event in her life, the diva replied: “Of course I will drink a glass of champagne! And toast with the two or three people who will be there that day. But I don’t want anything. Only peace, silence, kindness, affection and love. That’s all.”
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