Where Love Began

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By Laura Martínez

 

A good story should always have a great setting. The following places witnessed the dawn of romance, weddings, disagreements, and passion that never went out of fashion.

 

FINISTERRA HOTEL - CABO SAN LUCAS (Keith Richards and Patti Hansen)

"It was just...boom" is how Keith Richards (the friendliest member of The Rolling Stones) describes his first meeting with model Patti Hansen at Studio 54. Richards approached her and, without introduction, said, "Hey, something's happening to me" straight out.

The iconic guitarist admits there was a life before Patti and a life after. She rescued him from the darkness. They married four years later at the Finisterra Hotel in Cabo San Lucas (Mexico), on the band's Latin American tour, surrounded by the Sea of Cortez and with Mick Jagger as best man.

The couple have two daughters, Theodora and Alexandra, and have been together for more than 40 years. Love and rock & roll: the greatest combination.

 

 

LA MAMOUNIA - MARRAKECH (Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall...and Bryan Ferry)

You might think that Bryan Ferry has never been unlucky in love. You couldn't be more wrong. But if it's the supreme satanic majesty himself who's taken her away...then there's a mitigating factor.

The extremely blonde Texan Jerry Hall met her partner, Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry, while filming the music video for the song "Siren", in which she starred. Bryan fell head over heels in love with Jerry, and after two years of a tortuous relationship with more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, things came to an end, but not before having the typical "let's talk things over" conversation that usually heralds an imminent breakup.

Ferry waited for Hall in a hotel suite in Switzerland, deeply depressed, where the talk that never happened was to take place. Jerry preferred to skip the bitter pill of leaving her boyfriend in person and called him from Marrakech to tell him she was being held up at a photo shoot. But what (or who) was keeping her back was Mick Jagger (Bryan's friend and label mate, by the way) in another suite, the one at the legendary Moroccan hotel La Mamounia, a mix of art deco and Islamic architecture that was Ferry's favourite on his Moroccan getaways. All is fair in love and war? You tell me.

 

 

HYDRA ISLAND - GREECE (Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen)

In the Aegean Sea, south of Athens, between the Saronic and Argolic gulfs, a romance unfolded that marked the singer-songwriter and poet until the end of his days. In the 60s, Marianne and Leonard were fugitives from their respective lives: she was fleeing from a possessive husband back home in Norway, and he from the oppressive environment of his Jewish family in Montreal.

Hydra was then a lost island far from the madding crowd, where artists, creatives and young people thirsting for freedom converged. There, Cohen would write for days on end, aided and abetted by speed and Marianne, who made sure he ate a little in between so much creative productivity. These were Leonard's prolific years: he completed several books of poetry on Hydra, one of his most famous being Flowers For Hitler, and the novel inspired by his relationship with Ihlen, The Favourite Game.

For years, the Greek island was the lovers' private refuge, where they saw less and less of each other as the years passed and Cohen's success grew. Life separated them, but they never forgot each other. Their love was reflected in one of the most beautiful songs ever written about a breakup: "So Long, Marianne", and who knows how many more, less blatant but just as moving.

Marianne Ihlen passed away in 2016, and Leonard Cohen followed her just three months later.

"Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye, old friend. Endless love, see you down the road," Cohen wrote to his eternal love in her final days.

 

 

PIKES HOTEL - IBIZA (Grace Jones and Tony Pike)

The legendary Pikes Hotel in Ibiza has more mythical anecdotes than Keith Richard's biography, including the biggest party in Ibiza's history: Freddie Mercury's 40th birthday (more than 500 guests attended and to this day, it is still celebrated every 3rd September). Pikes is where it is rumoured that Julio Iglesias (who had his own suite there called, conveniently enough, Julio's) requested that there should be beautiful (mostly blonde) women hanging around the Pikes pool at his request when he was in residence. Pikes is also famous for being the place where Wham! filmed their  Club Tropicana video, with the young George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley splashing around and having the time of their lives.

Introductions aside, one of the most prominent happenings at Pikes was the romance between the diva Grace Jones and the hotel's founder, the charismatic Tony Pike. For nearly two years, the Bond girl visited Ibiza to see Tony, and he accompanied her on her worldwide tours and concerts. Tony Pike describes her in his biography as a woman who does and says what she wants, a mesmerising force of nature. Pike fell in love with Jones as soon as he saw her and says that he had never met a woman with the same sexual appetite as him.

Tony Pike married several times after breaking up with Grace, but he would never forget Jones' most repeated phrase: "Come to bed, Mr. Pike."

 

 

VILLA CARMELITA - PALM SPRINGS (Sonny & Cher)

She wanted to be a movie star, and he wanted to make his mark in show business. Their shared ambition made them one of the most iconic couples of the 60s. Their relationship lasted 11 years and turned Palm Springs, the cool Californian resort now enjoying a second youth, into their world. They called their home Villa Carmelita, hosting parties that lasted until the following day with celebrities such as Sharon Tate,  Roman Polanski, Twiggy and Phil Spector in attendance.

Cher succeeded in almost everything she set out to do, winning an Oscar, several Emmys and two Golden Globes. After they divorced, Sonny Bono ended up in politics and was mayor of his beloved Palm Springs during the 1990s.

 

FULHAM ROAD - LONDON (Michael Caine and Shakira Baksh)

Sir Michael Caine was watching TV with a friend when something caught his eye: a beautiful young woman starring in a coffee advertisement. At that very moment, he decided to go and look for her, wherever she was. After some investigation, Michael discovered she was from Brazil, so he prepared to fly there and ask her for a date in person the next day. As if that weren't daring enough, Caine phoned his friend later to tell him about his plan and the friend, who worked in a production company, said to him that he had filmed the advert and that the girl was much closer than he thought, namely in Fulham Road, less than two miles from his house. 

The woman in question is Shakira Baksh, and after rejecting 11 phone calls from Michael, she finally agreed to go out with him. They got married in 1973 and have one daughter. With 51 years of marriage under their belts, this couple is my favourite on this list for being the most improbable and for confirming that in love, you have to follow your instinct, keep going no matter what, like there is no tomorrow, like it was your only chance. In love, be like Michael Caine.