Paris (AFP)

Tears, white wine, joined in the soft when the police nearby turn their backs: the grave of Jim Morrison in the Parisian cemetery of Père Lachaise still attracts fans numb, like Saturday, the 50th anniversary of his death.

Health crisis requires, we are far from the effervescence of 2011 when Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, ex-keyboardist and guitarist of the Doors, went to this famous place in eastern Paris.

"Usually, I find lots of people, who today are not there, English, Swedish, because of the health context", regrets to AFP Christelle, sitting leaning against a tree not far from the stele of the "Lizard King".

This almost fifty years old, as she presents herself, is one of the hundred or so admirers of the rock icon gathered on this stormy afternoon.

You can easily spot her: this Ile-de-France has the most beautiful t-shirt of the assembly, the XXL face of Morrison stylized in warm colors.

"I have already been photographed twenty times", laughs this "big fan of the Doors" who comes on "each anniversary of Jim's death or birth".

But "not every year, just round numbers, 45, 50, etc."

# photo1

In order not to relive the excesses of 1991, the year of the release of the film dedicated to the Doors by Oliver Stone, the singer's last home is surrounded by barriers.

And on this anniversary day, two pairs of police officers come to prevent any departure from the party when the music of the Doors coming out of the phones intensifies or beer capsules fall on the tombstones around.

- "Morrison and Rimbaud" -

A subtle game of cat and mouse is then established to light joints or secretly drink a few sips from the neck.

Zoltan, a tall fellow from Budapest, holds a bottle of white wine in his hand.

# photo2

When AFP asks him about his presence, he crushes a few tears, overcome by emotion, before recovering. "I am right in the subject, I translated into Hungarian an American work which draws the parallel between Morrison and Arthur Rimbaud", he confides. "Morrison was stuck in his rock'n'roll character but he loved literature, he was trying to escape; at 27 (age of his death) I hadn't done all he did, I I was studying at university and I was far from having his knowledge, "he continues.

As fans around the grave get to know each other, he refuses to get involved in the "how did Jim die?"

Officially a cardiac arrest in his apartment in the Marais, even if in recent years the thesis of an overdose in a nightclub, the "Rock'n'Roll Circus", is gaining momentum with books and interviews fueled by witnesses of the time.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is his work and his performances on stage," insists the forty-something, who came with his wife and children for five days in Paris.

# photo3

- "The legend continues" -

Fred Verheijden, in his seventies, came from the Netherlands with a friend.

Both are dressed in T-shirts specially printed for the pilgrimage to Paris, with "Old rockers never die" on the back ("Les vieux rockers do not die").

# photo4

They have a particularity: they are interested in the club of 27, these stars who died at this age.

Two years ago, they went to the grave of Brian Jones, founding member of the Rolling Stones, who also died on July 3, in 1969.

"Here in Paris, it's different than what we experienced in England around the grave of Brian Jones. Here we met people from Italy, Germany, the atmosphere is incredible", rejoices with AFP Fred Verheijden, who turns young musicians in his country.

# photo5

And to show another inscription on his T-shirt: "We chose + Light my fire + (" Allume moi ") as the title of the Doors to baptize this trip to Paris, we did not take + The end + (" The end "). Because, as you see, with all the people here, the legend of Morrison continues."

© 2021 AFP