Serge [Gainsbourg] knew what he wanted. A perfectionist. We rehearsed a lot, we only spoke in verlan. I hardly have much fun with a man, but we were … - Anna Karina

J'imaginais que j'allais voyager avec des gitans et que j'allais chanter dans la rue. Un peu comme Piaf. Je connaissais toutes les chansons des chanteuses réalistes, Damia, Berthe Sylva, Fréhel. Je me rappelle aussi que je voulais me marier avec Louis Armstrong

I came to the showroom to show pictures, and [Coco Chanel] said, “Okay, we’ll make a test to see if you can do it.” I was a little girl—about 17-and-a-half—and so I went into the makeup room and I did my makeup, and my hair, and the eyes to get them a little bit bolder. This woman came in with a big hat, she was 66 or 65 or something like that, but very beautiful! Kind of militaire. She said, “What is your name little girl?” I was talking to the makeup lady, and said, “My name is Hanne Karin Bayer.” She said, “Hanne Karin Bayer? And you want to be an actress? You’ve got to call yourself Anna Karina.” And I said, “Oh that sounds good, thank you, Madame.” Afterwards everybody told me it was Coco Chanel. Two weeks later I got my photo on the cover of Elle magazine and I really got work. That was a big honor at the time, and they called me “Anna Karina,” but they spelled it the wrong way in the beginning, with a “C,” the Italian way.

As soon as we were happy, he tried to get at us by another means, another path. He provoked a new ordeal. One could have thought that it bored him, happiness.