The Most beautiful film sets in Paris

Many directors come to Paris in search of French lands to shoot their movie scenes or to take shots here. Due to the popularity of France as a film location, foreign filming was restricted by new rules in 2008. Filmmakers wanting to use France as their backdrop for their movie adventures must now follow four very precise and non-negotiable conditions: they must film at least 5 days in the Hexagon, spending no less than a million euros, include at least two French-speaking actors and use two symbolic settings of France.

Between 2002 and 2008, more than 400 French films were filmed just in the town of Paris. With regard to international directors, Americans seem to most like to film in our capital. And the two arrondissements, or districts, which are unanimously popular amongst filmmakers are the 8th and 16th.

Come to Paris makes a brief return on the national and international films shot in Paris and those which have included the 7th art.

Produced by Disney studios, the film was released in cinemas in 1996 and very quickly reached the top of the box office, where it remained for many weeks.

The mystical centrepiece of the story, the extraordinary Notre Dame cathedral, has encouraged those who continue to tell the craziest legends to keep dreaming. One of them, invented in 1831 by the writer Victor Hugo in his book ‘Notre-Dame de Paris’ which largely inspired the studios of Disney, contributes to this certain mysterious aura which surrounds the cathedral and which has never ceased to fascinate.

In Disney’s animated movie, the gargoyles of Notre-Dame are characters in their own right. Companions in Quasimodo’s imagination during his misfortunes, you can admire them whilst climbing the 380 steps. Positioned on the outside of the gutters, these superb half-animal, half-human sculptures, fantastic beasts with clawed feet, with sharp beaks or splayed wings, carry the rainfall away from the roof.

Later on, the museum of the Louvre became the inspiration of another writer. In 2003, Dan Brown published one of the biggest literary successes of the decade: ‘The Da Vinci Code’.

Selling 86 million copies throughout the world, the novel quickly inspired Hollywood. Only 3 years after its release, the film was ready for the big screen. The biggest scenes had parts which were filmed in the actual museum, inspiring in the fans an enthusiasm for the Louvre which was already the most visited museum in the world with no less than 9 million visitors per year. If you want to follow the characters’ footsteps from the films, start your visit with the museum by Hall Napoléon situated under ‘la Pyramide’: it is there that Robert Langdon entered into the museum at the start of the film. According to the novel, 666 large pieces of glass make up ‘la Pyramide of the Louvre’, but this comes from a rumour which originated in the 1980s by those who opposed its construction. If the figure of 666 is in fact that of the Beast according to the ‘Livre de l’Apocalypse’ (The book of the Apocalypse), then in fact ‘la Pyramide’ is made up of 673 diamonds and triangles of glass.

From Hall Napoléon, head towards the Denon escalators. It is the Aile Denon where all the scenes in the Louvre took place in the film. Take the first escalator and turn to the left before the second one. Take the stairs which lead to the Preclassic Greek gallery (room 1) and allow yourself to dream!

How can we talk about Paris and of its cinema without mentioning the marvelous Jean-Pierre Jeunet film, the fabulous ‘Destin d’Amelie Poulain’? Released in 2001, the film has numerous scenes on the popular and mystical Montmartre hill, encouraging thousands of foreign spectators to go and discover Amelie’s town. Here are the Parisian spots where the most beautiful scenes are filmed:

Café des deux Moulins: The name of the café refers to the last two mills which remain on the Montmartre hill: the Moulin Rouge and the Moulin de la Galette. Following the success of the film, the café has become a place which is very popular amongst tourists but has nevertheless never lost its typical Parisian charm.

Le marché de la Butte (The market on the hill): ‘Le Marché de la Butte’ is at the grocery shop, 56 rue des 3 frères, also called “Maison Collignon” named after the owner in the film, played by Jamel Debbouze, who submits his unsuspecting employee Lucien, to many public humiliations. The sign “Maison Collignon” is still in the same place since the filming, placed above the real name of the grocery shop. The former owner, a certain Ali, saw his business literally take off following the release of the film. The grocery shop is wallpapered with press articles about the success of ‘Amélie Poulain’ and of its effect on the tourist visits as well as Parisians’ visits in this little area of Montmartre.

Louise Michel Square: It’s here that the telephone box scenes and the signposted walk that Amélie mapped out for Nino were filmed. Created in 1927, the square leads to the Sacré-Coeur via a large staircase of 222 steps. Stretching nearly 24,000m² and constantly busy with tourists due to the impressive panoramic view that it offers of the town, the Louise Michel square is always very lively: picnickers, couples, walking artists and photographers enjoy this place during day and night.

Canal Saint Martin: Amélie liked to skim rocks here. The canal is very pleasant in summer because it is next to the little squares where Parisians like to relax.

At the foot of ‘la Butte Montmartre’, the Moulin Rouge has also been a place of inspiration for great novels and cinematographic adaptations. Amongst them, Baz Luhrmann succumbed to the charm of the legendary Parisian cabaret by filming Moulin Rouge, which became an obvious success in cinemas in 2001.

Although all the action in the story of the film took place in Paris at the foot of the Montmartre hill, the actual filming of the movie took place… on the set of the Fox Australia studios. Although the setting of the period was recreated in every scene, the director spent a lot of time in Paris before the start of filming in order to write his script, to soak in the specific atmosphere of the capital and gather the maximum amount of information on Parisian life in the 19th century. It was in this way that Baz Luhrmann was able to bring this crazy atmosphere of the Paris cabaret to the screen, by combining his well understood madness of the cabaret to his own crazy ideas. From Toulouse Lautrec, “the soul of Montmartre”, to the huge elephant which took centre stage in this period in the cabaret garden, it was all thought of with the aim of transporting the spectator to the heart of the joyful chaos which reigned at the Moulin Rouge at the time of the ‘Belle Epoque’.

This film is composed of 18 short films, all filmed in Paris in 18 different arrondissements (districts). Each filmmaker had to submit to many rules: their short film had to last about 5 minutes, take place in just one arrondissement which had to be easily recognizable, and had to filmed in just two days. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the most famous Parisian sites from the film:

Place des Victoires (2nd arrondissement) : It is in this district of Paris that a woman mourns the death of her son in an opulent-looking building situated in the ‘Place des Victoires’. Victim to hallucinations, she goes out into the street believing that she can hear her child calling her. It is before the basilica Notre-Dame-des-Victoires that she falls to her knees, when her son joins her and nestles into her arms.

Le Marais (4th arrondissement): ‘Le Marais’ is the theatre where Gaspard falls in love at first sight with Elie : when he meets eyes with this apprentice who cannot speak a word of French, Gaspard begins a monologue expressing his confusion about his love-stricken heart.

Le Quartier latin (6th arrondissement): It is at Rostand, a literary cafe situated opposite the Luxembourg garden, that Ben meets Gina. After years of living a more or less separate life, the couple decide to officialise their divorce.

Pigalle (9th arrondissement): It is in this trendy district of the capital that Bob wanders, clearly lost. He enters a hostess bar where an older woman approaches the counter.

Cimetière du Père Lachaise (20th arrondissement): A couple, Frances and William, walk along the green paths of ‘Cimetière du Père -Lachaise’ during their trip in Paris. The couple are not on the same wavelength and they are on the verge of breaking up. To send his fiancée into a fit of rage, William falls down in front of Oscar Wilde’s grave. Due to the hit to the head that William receives, he sees Oscar Wilde appear to him. The writer advises him to hold on to his fiancée.

Far from the simplicity of short films, Christopher Nolan’s film took hold of Paris during the filming of some scenes of Inception, a film lost between dreams and reality. With its unsettling theme throughout the film, a universe of dreams, this film has nonetheless been beautifully and artistically turned into reality. And it is in Paris that the director chose to film some of these unforgettable scenes.

Dom Cobb and Ariane have a long discussion on one of our pretty Parisian bridges: the pont de Bir Hakeim, known for its graceful 1900 metallic structure and its beautiful view over the Seine.

Not far from there, on 6 rue César Franck in the 15th arrondissement, you can find the Italian caterer ‘Da Stuzzi’, transformed into ‘Café Debussy’ for filming. It is on the terrace of the restaurant that Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page calmly talk while enormous explosions destroy the surrounding shops and apartments. ‘Rue César’ and ‘rue Bouchut’ were closed during the two days in August 2009 in order to film a mind-blowing dream scene in which a supernatural wind powerfully wipes out all the neighbouring business stalls.

To conclude the list of Parisian scenes, there is the roof of the cinéma Gaumont Opéra which allowed the 360° panoramic views of Paris to be shot and the terrasse du Musée Galliera which was the meeting place of Cobb and Ariane.

Amongst the international producers obsessed with Paris, Woody Allen would probably take first place. Midnight in Paris is a vibrant homage to the capital.

For this film, Woody Allen films in the ‘Palaces’ of Paris: The Ritz, Bristol, Meurice are the three hotels which feature in his last 10 films shot in Paris (with Tout le monde dit I love you). In Midnight in Paris, the wine tasting scene took place in the exceptional suite “La Belle Étoile” in the hotel Meurice. The protagonists also go to dinner at the ‘Grand Véfour’, an exceptional restaurant at the ‘Palais Royal’.

Midnight in Paris also pays homage to Paris culture, notably when Woody Allen thought up his characters at musée Rodin, then at musée de l’Orangerie (which the filmmaker considers as “the only museum that you cannot miss out on in Paris”), along with some little detours outside the capital such as Giverny and chateau de Versailles. You can find the scene where Carla Bruni-Sarkozy plays a guide at the ‘musée Rodin’.

In the film, Woody Allen includes scenes on the quays of the Seine, just like in Tout le monde dit I love you. During her travels, Gill, the main character of the film, also finds herself on l’île Saint-Louis, then in the square of l’île de la Cité. The film ends with a walk in the rain on pont Alexandre III.

Another big name in American cinema, Quentin Tarantino, also temporarily took over some Parisian streets to film his famous ‘Inglourious Basterds’.

In 2008, the producer filmed many scenes in a bar situated on the corner of the streets ‘Championnet’ and ‘du Poteau’, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. The residents of ‘rue Championnet’ were also able to witness two days of strange bloody characters in the uniforms of SS officers or old and exploding cars. Many scenes were filmed in La Renaissance, a bar on the Championnet Poteau crossroads.

And finally, the adorable Ratatouille, the animated film from the American Pixar studios, providing a complete picture of the bridges of Paris and the quays of the Seine.

Many bridges in Paris inspired the creators of the film, such as the Pont au Double and the Pont St-Michel. The Eiffel Tower is also a key location in the film: it is in discovering the ‘Dame de Fer’ that Remy realizes that he has arrived at our magnificent capital. He climbs over the tops of the roofs, and is in awe looking at the magnificent nighttime spectacle that the town Lumière offers.

With regard to Gusteau’s place, this is a restaurant owned by the most famous chef in Paris. In the past, it has achieved 5 stars in the Parisian restaurant guide. In the eyes of Remy, it is “la crème de la crème”. And so it is here that he chooses to pursue his dream to become a great chef. But you will not find ‘Gusteau’ in Paris since this restaurant has come entirely from the imagination of the creators of Pixar. However, the front of the restaurant is largely inspired the famous establishment, the ‘Tour d’Argent’, situated in the ‘quai de la Tournelle’. One of the capital’s mystical restaurant since 1937, it offers a panoramic view of Paris from its 6th floor.