“YOU’RE BTWN 20 & 30, A VERY DESIRABLE AGE…”
If you saw Wes Anderson’s 13-minute mini-movie called Hotel Chevalier—the prologue for his fantastic-looking-but-otherwise-meh film The Darjeeling Limited
that featured Natalie Portman’s first kinda-bizarrely-anticlimatic on screen nude scene —then, you might remember the song that played throughout: the very debonair ditty “Where Do You Go To My Lovely” sung by Indian-born Brit Peter Sarstedt.
The folkie-pop song is about a beautiful girl named Marie-Claire who grew up on the wrong side of Naples, Italy but moved to Paris and became a jetset party ho who wears designer clothes and always gets an even suntan. Sarstedt’s lyrics mention so many names, some known (Marlene Deitrich!) some not-so-much (Zizi Jeanmaire!) that some helpful person posted a reference list .
The incredible video for the song, made in 1969, is amazing and you should watch it. And when you’re done rewinding the part where he laughs (amazing), listen to the song’s 1997 sequel, “The Last of the Breed” , in which we find out that Marie-Claire is now living in London and still up to her très chic hijinx.
If you haven’t already seen it, here’s: Hotel Chevelier
