In the rue des Saint-Pères in Paris, flowers and OM scarf in tribute to Bernard Tapie – South West

Bouquets of flowers, but also the blue and white scarf of the Olympique de Marseille: throughout the day, Sunday, admirers of Bernard Tapie, including many Marseillais, came to pay homage to him in front of his Parisian home. His family announced that he would be buried in Marseille, “his city of heart”.

Bernard Tapie passed away early in the morning at the Hôtel de Cavoye, rue des Saints-Pères, in the heart of Saint-Germain des Prés. On this gloomy Sunday, at the foot of the large porte-cochère, about twenty bouquets were deposited, as well as an OM flag and the scarf of its supporters.

Nathalie, 54, and her daughter Anaël, 25, from Marseilles passing through Paris, did not hesitate to come and honor the memory of “Mr. Tapie, who is truly an icon in our city”, considers Anaël. For Nathalie, who could not hold back her tears, it “is part of our life, of our city, of us. And we are the Marseillais ”.

“We are very happy that he can be buried with us”, concludes Anaël.

Coming from the Oise with his wife, Denis Magnier says he was a chef for a year and a half, in 1992 and 1993, on the Phocéa, Bernard Tapie’s yacht.

” I am moved. The grief is there. But we’re going to pay him the tribute he deserves. And in Marseille, he will be expected ”, expresses, the misty gaze, this 55-year-old man, who adds to have had“ the chance to have privileged relations ”with Bernard Tapie and his family and to have gone to offer his condolences.

“He liked to eat but never a drop of alcohol, he didn’t smoke. A good living, healthy life. He liked the good pasta, the fish and the Haribo candies in his office, ”he recalls. “Today, I have an entrepreneurial temperament and it is a bit thanks to this adventure at his side. With him, I understood that we had to go ”.

“A great character”

The management of the Phocéa earned Bernard Tapie a conviction in particular for tax evasion. Sold in the late 1990s, the sailboat sank in February. “It is a great character who is leaving”, greets Rose-Marie Magnier, 53, hospital worker. “His banter will be missed. He had the confidence to face any situation, any person. He had that strength of mind. “

Ludovic, a 23-year-old Parisian, “admires a lot” Bernard Tapie. “This is what we used to call a proletarian, who managed to climb all the layers of society”. Also regretting that it has been “30 years that the media beat him on”.

Bernard Tapie was “resilience” for Khir Din Grid, 33, film producer. “He had a lot of failures from the start of his career. […] Despite that, he continued. The passage in prison too … We would have lived a tenth of what he lived, we would not have held. He bounced back, ”he explains.

“When I was a kid, I watched television a lot, that’s how I discovered it,” he continues. “I’m from Aubervilliers, so obviously someone who comes from 93 like me, who speaks naturally, without tongue in cheek, I really liked it”.