The song "La Vie En Rose" was immortalized by legendary French singer Edith Piaf (1915-1963), whose tragic life lent more than a touch of poignancy to the beautiful imagery of love that she created as she sang. Nicknamed "La Mome Piaf" ("The Little Sparrow"), she composed the words to "La Vie En Rose" at the height of World War II, while she covertly assisted the French resistance. The song is filled with the imagery of love, and Piaf suggests one meaning of the title when she sings, "The magic spell you cast, This is la vie en rose..."
Although love was a central theme of Edith Piaf's music, her real life was filled with sadness. Blind as a young child, she was abandoned by her mother and raised by her paternal grandmother. At age 15, she left home to become a street singer in Paris. She had a daughter, Marcelle, who died in 1935, aged 2. Reportedly the love of her life, the boxer Marcel Cerdan, died in 1949. She married twice thereafter. Yet through it all, she remained "en rose." Piaf said of her life that she had no regrets. Toward the end of the song she wrote and immortalized are these lyrics: "Give your heart and soul to me, And life will always be La Vie En Rose." Piaf's life story was celebrated in the 2007 film "La Vie En Rose" starring Marion Cotillard.
"La Vie En Rose" was the love song featured in the 1954 romantic film "Sabrina" starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and Humphrey Bogart. Hepburn plays the daughter of a chauffeur to the wealthy Larrabee family. She returns from culinary school in Paris, a sophisticated young woman with Parisian chic, and attracts the eye of the playboy Larrabee (Holden) who is engaged. The older Larrabee (Bogart) tries to break up the romance in the interests of a large corporate deal with the bride's family. In "Sabrina," Hepburn sings "La Vie En Rose" and looks at her life and at love through rose-colored glasses. The film ends with Hepburn and Bogart literally sailing into the (pink) sunset.
"La Vie En Rose" is the name of a French restaurant in Brea, Southern California, whose website--lavnrose.com--offers the meaning that "Life Is Rosy." The restaurant is a reproduction of a Normandy farmhouse, and the menu features special recipes from the Gascony and Province seaside villages and farms. In 2008, "La Vie En Rose" the restaurant won two accolades from the Southern California Restaurant Writers, namely the "Golden Sceptre" for its high standard of cuisine and service, and the "Golden Bacchus" for the versatility of its wine selections (see Resources).
In Bellingham, Washington, "La Vie En Rose" stands for a popular French patisserie and restaurant that is also known as the "Life In Pink" cafe. Its array of delicious desserts and breads (yes, croissants too) are baked fresh in the European tradition. "La Vie En Rose" in Boise, Idaho adds an equally rosy flourish, "The Sweet Life European Bakery & Bistro." In keeping with French tradition, appreciation and enjoyment of the finest foods are an important part of celebrating "the pink life."
"La Vie En Rose" has touched many aspects of people's lives. It is the name of a garden store, a vintage clothing store, a beauty products store, a travel agency for holidays in France, and a crochet pattern for an infant's retro double bow hat. It is also the title of a book, "La Vie En Rose : The Little Book of Joy" by Dominique Glocheux (Albin Michel Litterature, 1997). No doubt Edith Piaf would have been heartened and touched to know how much she has influenced so many people to "think in pink."