Paris footbridge named in honour of Jane Birkin
The City of Paris has paid tribute to Jane Birkin by naming a footbridge over the Canal Saint-Martin after the late Anglo-French singer and actor.
The City of Paris has paid tribute to Anglo-French singer and actor Jane Birkin by naming a footbridge over the Canal Saint-Martin after her.
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The Jane Birkin Footbridge, in the capital’s 10th arrondissement, was officially inaugurated on Saturday in the presence of her daughters, singer Lou Doillon and actor and musician Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Birkin, who made France her home after arriving from London in the 1960s, died in 2023 aged 76.
Speaking at the ceremony, Gainsbourg described the honour as “poetic”, saying her mother “would have loved it”.
She suggested the bridge symbolised Birkin’s lifelong connection between Britain and France, her adopted country.
Doillon said the tribute felt particularly fitting, joking that while her mother was no longer alive, “today she’s becoming a bridge”.
Gainsbourg, Doillon and Birkin’s grandson, Roman de Kermadec, together unveiled the nameplate, which bears the inscription: Jane Birkin Footbridge (1946–2023), singer, actor, director.
Jane Birkin rose to international fame through her music and film work, notably her duet with Serge Gainsbourg, Je t’aime… moi non plus, and her role in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up.
She went on to work with leading filmmakers including Agnès Varda and Bertrand Tavernier, leaving a lasting mark on French cultural life.