France paid a moving national homage on Friday to the late singer Charles Aznavour, the little man with a very big life.
With honors that are usually reserved for national heroes, one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century was lauded as a cultural giant by the leaders of his two homelands -- France and Armenia -- at a ceremony in Paris.
Aznavour -- who was still touring at 94 -- died in his bath on Monday just days after he declared that he would like to breathe his last on stage.
He had concerts planned in both Brussels and his hometown of Paris over the next month.
Relatives of Charles Aznavour and France's President Emmanuel Macron follow his coffin carried by French Republican Guards during a ceremony in Paris, France, October 5, 2018. /AFP Photo
The ceremony at the Invalides began with Aznavour's coffin, draped in the French tricolor flag, being carried into the cobbled courtyard to the haunting Armenian lament, "Dle Yaman", played on a traditional Dudek flute.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Aznavour knew suffering and "carried the scar of the genocide of his people" which was why "for millions his songs were a balm, a comfort, and a cure."
He praised the singer's "loyalty to his roots" by throwing himself into helping Armenia recover from a devastating earthquake in 1988 and becoming an ambassador for the country to the UN.
French President Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to Charles Aznavour in front of his coffin during a ceremony in Paris, France, October 5, 2018. /AFP Photo
Earlier both the Armenian and French national anthems had echoed around the 17th-century Invalides complex which houses Napoleon's tomb.
Born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris in 1924 to parents who had fled the massacres of Armenians in what is now Turkey, Aznavour sold more than 180 million records in a career spanning eight decades and as many languages.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who had called the singer a "national hero", said, "every Armenian thinks of him as a kind of parent who has carried our name to the world and given Armenians a new pride."
A day of national mourning had also been declared in Yerevan.
People lay flowers and place candles around the star of Charles Aznavour at the square named after him in Yerevan on October 1, 2018. /VCG Photo
Aznavour's legions of fans have been left heartbroken by his death, while fellow entertainers line up to pay tribute to his influence as a taboo-breaking singer and highly original songwriter.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was lit up in Armenian gold Monday night in his honor, while Mayor Anne Hidalgo called for the French capital to rename a street after him.
(Top Photo: Charles Aznavour performs on stage at the Bercy AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France, December 13, 2017. /VCG Photo)