Discover the story of the song > San Francisco – Maxime Le Forestier

- In 1971, Catherine Le Forestier, accompanied by her brother Maxime on guitar, won first prize at the Spa festival.
- With the money they had won, they decided to go to San Francisco.
- They went to the address given to them by Luc Alexandre, a Belgian friend who assured them that the city was made for them.
- They stay there for several weeks, in the middle of a hippie community called "Hunga Dunga" where Vietnam deserters and homosexuals live, among others.
- Back in France, Maxime receives a letter with drawings that the inhabitants of the blue house have sent him.
- Not speaking much English and to thank them for their welcome, he decided to send them a song rather than a letter and so he quickly wrote and composed San Francisco.
- Played on the guitar, the song evokes the house inhabited by the hippies.
- The story of the Hunga Dunga community and the blue house, including the stay of Catherine and Maxime Le Forestier and the genesis of the song, is told by Phil Polizatto (the "Phil à la kena" of the second verse) in the book C'est une maison bleue .....
- The blue painted walls and its particular style have made this house a place of visit and curiosity for tourists.