With newfound freedom and youthful rebellion, the spirit of the sixties came to Paris in full swing. Like much of the world, France caught Beatlemania and the yé-yé generation—and figureheads Françoise Hardy, France Gall and stylish pied piper Serge Gainsbourg—followed with a playful, baroque take on rock ‘n’ roll. There were also true-to-form takes on the genre from Johnny Hallyday and Dick Rivers. Still, it wasn’t all shimmies and shakes; post-war chanson reached an apotheosis in Edith Piaf’s classic “Non, je ne regrette rien”.