The song, an old Provence one, about the queen of the models. He becomes homesick and wishes to be far away from all the clamor. Fanny Lagrand enters the drawing room, followed by her admirers. She notices Jean and it is love at first sight. She insists on being introduced.
Dinner is announced and the guest leave.
All but Fanny and Jean. The guests call for her to follow them, but she beckons to Jean to follow her. The back curtain is drawn to reveal the dinner table with places for Fanny and Jean conspicuously empty. A czardas resounds as the curtain falls. Act II takes place in Jean's apartment on rue Amsterdam.