[1][2][3] Her biggest success is said to be her performance of the song "La Sérénade du Pavé" (Sidewalk Serenade), written by Jean Varney in 1895.

[2] She struggled in her early years and was living in near poverty; she had moved to Marseilles in order to perform, but she was not very successful at first and was said to have been "booed and hissed off of the stage".

[3][8] While in Paris, Buffet became involved in right-wing politics; she attended one of the founding rallies of the Ligue des Patriotes and sang "La Marseillaise" for the nationalists.

[2] Buffet had spent a short time in the Prison Saint-Lazare which had put her into direct contact with women of such description,[1][9] and she was also said to have followed prostitutes on their rounds at night in order to better emulate their dress and demeanor in her own performances.

[1][2] She also sang in less conventional locations such as the streets of the poorer neighbourhoods of Paris, and even at coal mines, in order to raise money for the poor and homeless.

[12][13] In 1927 Buffet appeared in the silent film Napoléon directed by French filmmaker Abel Gance; she played the role of Laetizia Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother.