Film Locations: Paris

Good afternoon film and book fans! Last weekend, I went somewhere I'd never been before - Paris. While most people would enjoy the Eiffel Tower (which I did - don't get me wrong) and the croissants and French onion soup ('course there they just call it onion soup), I took a slightly different approach to my first visit - I looked up film locations.

I should explain, I have done this to a certain degree in the past - but this is the first time where I actually did some pre-holiday preparation. This was a little more organised than the time I walked around Battery Park in New York, suddenly stopped and said "OH MY GOD that's the door in Men in Black!", just because it was so familiar to me - or the time I wandered the stunning Central Park only to stumble on a staircase and cry "Ah! That's where the kid gets kidnapped in Ransom!".

I know many, many films have been shot in the gorgeous French capital and I merely scratched the surface. For me, though, there was something magical about going to the café where Audrey Tatou worked in Amelie, taking a boat trip along the River Seine - where Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy had THAT moment under a bridge - walking the halls of the Louvre and discovering Mona Lisa's secrets like Tom Hanks did in The Da Vinci Code (well not exactly like he did) and wandering the cluttered passageways of Shakespeare and Co (yes it was a film location too but my word those books are stunning!).

So where is your favourite film location and where have you stopped and stood in awe, knowing whose steps have come before yours and returned home to put on a film and scream "I been there!" like a small child, giddy with excitement.

Inside Amelie's café

 

Yup - we even found the grocers where she buys her artichokes!