Movie Capital: Paris – The Top Filming Locations In Paris

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris
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Few cities in the world capture the imagination quite like Paris. Along with millions of tourists, film-makers have also flocked to The City of Lights to realise all manner of big-screen stories. From breathy romances to action thrillers, and well-known landmarks to tiny cafés, the French capital lends a special kind of flair to productions from around the world. Here, we present our pick of Paris locations that have earned a special place in movie history.

By Victoria Luxford

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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The Eiffel Tower – Let’s start with an obvious one, shall we? It’s true that Paris’ most famous structure is a must-see in its own right, but it has also served as the location for several famous movie moments, not least Roger Moore’s finale as James Bond in 1985’s A View to a Kill, where it played host to a spectacular (and very real) parachute jump that was completed in one take. One reserve stuntman was so jealous of the feat that he did his own unauthorised jump, and was promptly fired!

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Pont de Bir-Hakeim – This unusual, beautifully designed bridge connecting the 15^th and 16^th arrondissements in northeastern Paris has featured in classics such as ‘50s crime film Rififi and, er, the sequel to National Treasure. It is perhaps most noted, however, as part of a pivotal scene in Christopher Nolan’s Inception, where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character introduces Ellen Page to the power of dreams. Unfortunately, visitors to the bridge won’t be able to bend reality as Ellen Page does!

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Le Café des 2 Moulins – This small, charismatic cafe has reportedly been open since the early 20th century, but ever since 2001, it has become known to many visitors by a new name: The Amélie Café. Its use as a focal point of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s romantic classic has made it a magnet for tourism, so expect a queue unless you’re planning on visiting during a quiet time (the cafe is open until 1:30am!).

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Palais Galliera – You think Paris, you think fashion. One of Hollywood’s most memorable takes on the fashion industry is 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, featuring a whole act set in the French capital. Among the locations you can visit, such as Place de la Concorde (where Anne Hathaway’s character Andy finally quits the fashion world), is this museum of fashion, a glorious building that will be worth the wait when it reopens in late 2019 following renovations.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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The Palace of Versailles – Another tourist spot that will be of interest for its vast history, but movie fans will note that Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette was given unprecedented access to use the palace as a location for filming in the mid-2000s. The anarchic take on French royalty wasn’t for everyone, but over the years the film has gained a cult following, putting the classical architecture into a slightly rebellious context.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Pont Alexandre III – Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, as you would expect, makes the most of the city that gives the film its name. While the obvious choice may be to visit the steps of Church of St-Étienne-du-Mont, for our money the Pont Alexandre III bridge is the most romantic. It’s where Owen Wilson reconnects with Léa Seydoux’s antique dealer and they walk off into the sunset (or, in this case, rain storm).

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Bistrot La Renaissance – This authentic 19th-century establishment is the only location in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds to have actually been shot in Paris (the rest was filmed in Germany). Nonetheless it’s authentic to the film, featuring in a scene where war hero Frederick (Daniel Brühl) tries to connect with reluctant cinema owner Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent). It’s a rare European tourist spot for fans of Tarantino, who mainly films in LA.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Le Caveau de la Huchette – In the world of movie locations, file this one under “impressive cameos”. Jazz club La Caveau de la Huchette features for a few seconds as part of La La Land’s climactic “what might have been” sequence, where we see Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) playing to a packed club in Paris – a moment of romance in a city synonymous with it. The film’s popularity has seen the venue (which inspired Liverpool’s famous Cavern Club) have an influx of visitors, although it has always been a swingin’ night spot in its own right.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Shakespeare and Company – Who doesn’t love a bookshop? While considered an endangered species in the era of online shopping, book stores have always captured the imagination of avid readers and cinema fans, given how many romances start in one. Paris’ Shakespeare and Company hosted Ethan Hawke’s novelist for a scene in Before Sunset, as well as Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia. Even before that, however, it starred in Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man, a 2003 documentary focused on the shop’s owner and its history.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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The Louvre – The world’s most famous art museum has received differing feedback from recent Hollywood movies. Last year it served as the base of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), with the renowned courtyard featuring at the beginning and end of the film. However, in 2006’s Da Vinci Code, Jean Reno described the glass pyramid entrance as “a scar on the face of Paris” to a bemused Tom Hanks. Well, you can’t please everyone.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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9 Avenue d’Eylau – While the interior isn’t accessible to the public, this gorgeous apartment building’s exterior will be familiar to fans as the spot where Taken’s Kim Mills (Maggie Grace) gets, well, taken by human traffickers, and where the infamous “I will find you…” speech is received. Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) would later arrive at the apartment in his relentless pursuit of his daughter, before dashing through much of the surrounding city trying to find her.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Cinema Normandie, Champs-Élysées – One for the art house fans. A pivotal piece of French cinema, À bout de souffle (Breathless), features a young criminal (Jean-Paul Belmondo) with more than a passing admiration for Humphrey Bogart. He comes face to face (sort of) with his idol at Cinema Normandie on Champs-Élysées, which still stands (albeit looking very different today). A small but significant location easily accessible while taking in the sites.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris.
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Chanteloup-les-Vignes – 1996’s La Haine aimed to show a different side to French film, something grittier and more urgent, making a star of its lead Vincent Cassel. The story’s heartbreaking conclusion is set in the town of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, overlooked by the imposing murals of Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. The location is still there, a few miles west of Paris, although Cassel and his castmates have become murals themselves in the surrounding streets.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In Paris

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