During these years Élie, baptised Pierre, lived at La Grèlerie, the home of Hilaire and Marie Rocher, who had two sons.

From this time, he drew inspiration for songs like "La Bicyclette [fr]", "Des ronds dans l'eau" and "Les Filles du dimanche".

[3] With his first earnings he bought the mill, la Morvient, by the river in Le Boupère in the Vendée where he had spent part of his childhood.

He worked with Pierre Akendengué, Areski Belkacem, Brigitte Fontaine, Nana Vasconcelos, Gérard Ansaloni, Jacques Higelin, Alfred Panou, Maurane, David McNeil, and Elis Regina.

As writer/performer he had success with La Plage – immortalised by Marie Laforêt and the guitarist Claude Ciari – Tes dix-huit ans and Monsieur de Furstenberg.