I agree completely - Piaf est trés formidable. I also like many of Bardot’s songs.
This is why I love FR. A thread on the French election turns into a discussion of French music.
Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel - French geniuses. I love listening to and playing them. Even Chopin and Liszt were heavily affected by the rich and romantic Parisian environs as can be heard (for example) in many of Chopin’s waltzes. France, with all her eccentricities holds a special place in the development of the arts and high culture.