For over 40 years since his death in 1972, French entertainer Maurice Chevalier's 15-room mansion near Paris remained untouched.

Now, following the death of his last companion, Odette Meslier, the star's personal belongings, including his trademark straw boaters, have finally been sold at auction.

Best remembered for songs such as "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and "I Remember it Well," the singer and actor was one of his country's best-known exports to Hollywood.

Meslier, a 1950s music hall dancer, maintained the house just as it had been on the day he died at the age of 83.

In an elegant drawing room, framed photographs and mementos from his long career in show business rested atop a grand piano while in the hall a collection of walking sticks remained just as he left them.

Books, records, furniture, even the crooner's Mercedes car, bed and dressing gown were among the items sold on Monday in Paris by auctioneers Digard and Pestel-Debord.

One straw boater fetched 5,146 euros ($7,060), while his 1950s platinum watch was sold for 25,157 euros and the Mercedes went for 13,723 euros.

Chevalier lived at the house at Marnes-la-Coquette, just west of Paris, for the last 20 years of his life.

The Chevalier family decided to sell the house and auction off most of its contents following Meslier's death in May this year.

Chevalier cherished the house which he bought in 1952 and named La Louque, his mother's nickname.

"This house is so beautiful that I never cease to admire it as if it actually belonged to someone else," he once said.

It is now on the market for 8.4 million­ euros.

AFP