Le Forestier began to focus on songwriting and composed Ballade pour un traître which was recorded and released by the French/Italian singer and actor, Serge Reggiani.

"San Francisco", one of his best known songs, begins with the line: "C'est une maison bleue adossée à la colline" (meaning "It's a blue house with its back to the hill").

[5] In 1971, a young Le Forestier was living in a hippie commune, called "Hunga Dunga", in a blue house situated at 3841 18th Street in San Francisco.

These include Phil Polizatto, who recalls with great affection Le Forestier's stay in the blue house, in a critically acclaimed book entitled "Hunga Dunga: Confessions of an Unapologetic Hippie".

Maxime Le Forestier has participated in Les Enfoirés, the annual concert to raise money for the charity Restaurants du Cœur, since 1995.