How the news broke in the French Riviera, where Bardot livedpublished at 12:39 GMT
12:39 GMT
Pierre-Antoine Denis
Reporting from Nice, southern France
I was driving with my parents when a special announcement came on France’s main commercial radio station, RTL.
The tone was immediately sombre. The presenter opened by calling Brigitte Bardot a true legend, saying there would be time for sadness later, but for now the entire newsroom was focused on bringing listeners special coverage.
By the time I arrived home in Nice, close to where Bardot used to live, every French news channel had reshaped its usual weekend schedules to focus on Bardot.
Coverage was organised around the defining chapters of her life: acting, modelling, singing and, what many described as her life’s calling, her animal welfare foundation.
For those of us in the South of France, everyone has seen or has a story involving Bardot – from her dazzling Cannes during the film festival, to her elegant appearances in the many fancy restaurants on the French Riviera.
As I heard someone put it to French TV earlier, La Riviera is Bardot and Bardot is La Riviera