– Fan Fun “Song of the Week” Series –
by Damianista | Fan Fun With Damian Lewis | August 19, 2025
This is called ‘Wanna Grow Old in Paris’…
Who doesn’t, right?
– Damian Lewis at Hoxton Hall
Indeed.
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to share a “Song of the Week” post last week—but I promise I had a very good excuse: a four-day getaway to Paris! As my t-shirt proudly declares below, “Paris is always a good idea.” And it truly is—one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world.
I felt incredibly lucky to revisit Notre Dame, to be dazzled once again by the Impressionist masterpieces at the Musée d’Orsay, to get lost on the side streets of the Latin Quarter, and to have a drink (or two) at the legendary Café de Flore.
All of this brings me to today’s choice for Damian Lewis’ “Song of the Week”: Wanna Grow Old in Paris. Because really—who wouldn’t?
Here’s what Damian had to say about the song when he dropped it as the first single from his EP, which came out just after the Paris Olympics last year.
Now, we all know the narrator in the song, the woman who wanted to grow old in Paris. We also know Helen was all of the things Damian talks about in his Instagram post and more. And while she did not have the chance to grow old in Paris, Damian told the audience at his gig at The Tabernacle in London in November 2022 that she managed to do some of the things he sings about in the song.
“I knew a woman once who wanted to grow old like a chic, Parisienne grand-dame… She managed some of this…”
Helen spent her teenage years in Paris because her dad worked as a diplomat there. She witnessed chic Parisienne women attending parties and receptions at the residence. She once said:
I spent my teenage years in Paris when my dad was stationed there, and I’d look at women in their forties and think, ‘That’s the age I want to be.
When asked about her favorite city for The Independent’s “My Life in Travel” series, Helen talked about Paris:
“The city is preserved in aspic. When you return, not only is the same restaurant still there, but so is the chef. It’s like visiting a favourite armchair.”
And her favorite restaurant abroad was in Paris, too.
“Restaurant Chartier in Paris. It’s not swanky. It’s like an old-fashioned soup kitchen, with white cloths and about 12 dishes on the menu. I went there a lot between the ages of about 12 and 18, when I lived in Paris. If you buy a bottle of wine at lunch and don’t finish it, they’ll keep it and your dirty napkin for you until you come back at dinner time.”
The city of lights stayed special for Helen as the place she wanted to grow old, painting her lips like Jeanna Moreau, smoking cigarettes with her Belmondo, and sipping Pastis at Café de Flore. The city also became special for Damian and Helen as a couple probably because Helen loved it so much. Damian proposed to Helen on Pont Neuf in 2006. And Damian’s Wanna Grow Old in Paris post on Instagram tempted me to share that story with you.
In their well-known double interview with British Vogue in 2013, Damian says that “falling in love with a beautiful, talented actress and whisking her off to Paris to propose” was his fantasy.
So, he first falls in love with a beautiful, talented actress. In case you missed it, we shared the story about how Damian met Helen earlier here.
“Helen and I partied very, very hard before we met and then we collided at the Almeida in 2004 and together we partied even harder. We used to lose entire evenings listening to jazz at Ronnie Scott’s.”
I smile big when I remember Damian telling Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs very lovingly about the evenings he and “his lady wife” spent at jazz bars and choosing a track that reminds him of those sweet evenings:
“…when I was courting my lady wife, we went to listen to a lot of jazz, it was really lovely. And… I like the entire spectrum of jazz, but I’ve chosen us a more traditional swing jazz. This guy was really the first jazz super star, he was dead by the time he was 28. And, this is called Goose Pimples… It’s a fantastic track and it would remind me of jazz clubs with Helen.”
So, go ahead and swing away with Bix Beiderbecke as you read on about how our favorite guy, who could NOT not chase his fantasies, whisks Helen off to Paris to propose… 🙂
“I proposed to Helen in Paris. I tried to do it on the Pont Neuf — I was sweating bullets and wrestling in my overcoat pocket for the ring, which had got stuck in a little cellophane bag, but when I finally got it out, a gaggle of Japanese tourists surrounded us like a flock of seagulls, taking pictures, and the moment was totally destroyed.”
The moment may have been totally destroyed, but it’s such a romantic and funny story for their kids and grandkids.
Here is a picture of the beautiful Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge over the river Seine for you so you can imagine Damian and Helen on the bridge… and add the Japanese tourists taking pictures of them 🙂
Here’s a glimpse of Damian singing Wanna Grow Old in Paris on Music Box:
Read the rest of the original article at Fan Fun With Damian Lewis