These days Birkin is more likely to be spotted carrying one of the famously capacious Hermes totes designed for and named after her than a bulging hand-out from Happy Shopper.

But the rest of the baggage is unchanged: the word "iconic" still swings along behind her, heavier now as time lends weight to her legend.

"I never quite know what it means," she sighs when I mention the i-word. "For me it's Elizabeth Taylor and one can hardly imagine Elizabeth Taylor shuffling down the street with her old bulldog like I do."

Jane Birkin performs The Songs Of Serge at The Arches on January 29 as part of the Glasgow Music and Film Festival. The concert will be preceded by a screening of Souvenirs Of Serge, www.thearches.co.uk

Jane Birkin says 'Je t'aime, Serge' in Glasgow