Saturday, June 18, 2011

Midnight in Paris Filming Locations

My husband took me to see Midnight in Paris last night.  I loved it, he hated it.  Maybe it’s only a movie for true lovers of Paris!
The locations throughout the movie are truly beautiful.  In case you are not familiar, below I have detailed a quick review of some of the settings in the film.  Warning: there may be spoilers below!
Monet’s Gardens at Giverny:  This is the opening scene where we first see Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel MacAdams).  It is here that Claude Monet lived and painted for many years of his life.
Musée de l'Orangerie:  This is where eight of Monet’s Water Lillies paintings are housed.  The Musée de l'Orangerie was probably my second favourite museum I visited on my last trip to Paris.  My mom loves Monet and I grew up seeing a lot more Monet than the average child would ever see.  In fact, we had Water Lillies wallpaper in our bathroom at one point.  Here are some of the photos I took while at this beautiful museum:















Hotel Bristol: This is the hotel where Gil and Inez are staying during their travels to Paris.  This Bristol officially opening in 1925 (perfect for the setting of the film!) and it is this hotel where legendaries like Chanel and Picasso once spent the night.
Le Meurice:  a gorgeous five-star luxury hotel in Paris.  Gil, Inez, Paul and Nina enjoy a wine-tasting on a terrace of this hotel.  If I am not mistaken, it is the terrace of the Belle Etoile Royal Suite that is pictured.  At more than 17,000€ a night, this suite is luxury at its finest.


Musée Rodin:  Many of Auguste Rodin’s many sculptures are exhibited here.  Some of Rodin’s more famous works are The Thinker (featured in the film), The Kiss and The Gates of Hell.  The Musée Rodin was by far my favourite museum in Paris.  The work of Rodin is amazing, and the location is impeccable...the gardens are beautiful beyond words.  If you only have a short stay in Paris, visit this museum, you won’t regret it!

Rue Montagne St. Genevieve:  This is where Gil goes every night at midnight.  It is located in the 5e arrondissement near the Panthéon.
Versailles:  Here lies Louis XIV’s (the “Sun King’s) magnificent palace.  The gardens are extraordinary.  You could literally spent a whole day in the garden’s and still not cover half of them.  Another must on a trip to Paris is a trip to Versailles – it is only a 30 minute subway ride away from Paris and well worth the trip.

Marché Paul Bert:  it is here that Gil purchases a record from Gabrielle. It is an open-air market best known for its decorative trends and fashions.
Quai de la Tournelle:  the location where Gil buys a journal written by Adriana.  Many book stalls are located along this quai.
Square Jean XXXIII:  located behind the Notre-Dame cathedral, you can view the rose windows, sculptures and flying buttresses of the cathedral from here.  In the film, the museum guide (from the Musée Rodin) translates Adriana’s journal for Gil.
Musée des Arts Forains:  contains a collection of merry-go-rounds, carousels, swings and bicycles.  Gil meets Adriana here after discovering that he courtship with Picasso has come to an end.
Maxim's:  a restaurant known for its art nouveau interior and museum.  Gil and Adriana go to Maxim’s in the film and get “lost” in the Belle Époque.
Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore:  perhaps one of the most famous bookstores in the world, many writers from the 1920’s, including Ernest Hemmingway, gathered here.  In Midnight in Paris, Gil is seen leaving the store.
Pont Alexandre III:  featured at the end of the film, it is here where Gil asks Gabrielle to walk her home in the rain.  One of the most extravagant bridges in Paris, it connects the Champs- Élysées and Eiffel Tower quarters.
Resturants features in the film include Le Grand VéfourAux Lyonnais, and Lapérouse.
There! Now you know all of the filming locations of Midnight in Paris!
xo Ceilidh

23 comments:

  1. I am seeing this movie as soon as I possibly can, it is just so enticing! Your images are wonderful!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

    Come and join my Giveaway from the Novica Artisans!

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  2. Thank you for doing this. I was going crazy trying to identify the street where he "went" every night.

    This was a wonderful film.

    Denis

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  3. Just a little correction: Hemingway, Joyce, et alli - in the 1920's - enjoyed Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare & Company Bookstore at 12 Rue de l'Odéon, 6ème Arr. The bookstore located at Quai de la Tournelle is an imitation.

    A Paris Flaneur

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  4. The bookstore located at Quai de la Tournelle is the actual bookstore in another location. Sylvia Beach's Grandaughter runs the store. It is amazing to talk to her and learn how the store lets aspiring young writers w/o income stay there. You can wander through and see the mattresses that they sleep on in between shelves of books. It is one of the oldest bldgs in Paris!

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  5. No, no, no the current Sylvia Beach is Sylvia Beach Whitman, a namesake of the old Sylvia Beach, the daughter of George Whitman who founded THIS Shakespeare and Company, and obtained permission in the 1950s from Sylvia Beach to use the name for his store, but is not related to her at all - this is NOT the 'actual bookstore" but just a store that uses the same name, whose owner named his daughter after Sylvia.

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  6. Thanks for the post. I have seen the movie three times so far, and redognized everything but where he sat on the stairs and was picked up by the car - I KNEW the neighborhood looked familiar, but it was driving me nuts because the camera never panned high enough to show anything but the stairs - and I have been in that church a couple of times. I always stay about three blocks from there, on rue de Sommerard. There's a great British Pub near there across the plaza from the Pantheon. Also, your readers might be interested in knowing that the Mairie de Paris has a pdf "film trail" map with locations and descriptions relating to the movie at: http://www.v2asp.paris.fr/commun/v2asp/v2/MIDNIGHTinPARIS_internet.pdf

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  7. flyingdog of Santa Fe NMJuly 21, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    I stay frequently on rue Ecole-Polytechnique to visit my 3 young grandsons near the Sqr. of the Cluny. As with Anon above, I was straining on each visit up the hill to confirm my 1st idea that the road might be Montagne Ste Genevieve at the end of
    Ecole-Polytechnique. Thank you for your post. I'll be there Monday 25th.

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  8. Do you know where is that place where he meets the young girl that sells antiques and jazz music? its kind of a flee market i think.

    Thanks!

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  9. The flea market where Gil meets the girl that sells the records (Gabrielle) is the Marché Paul Bert. The website for this flea market is below if interested!

    http://paulbert.antiquites-en-france.com/index.html

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  10. Thanks so much! I was curious about the spot on Rue de Montagne, since upon watching the film I was 99% positive that my husband and I had drinks in that exact spot on our honeymoon. Now back in Paris, and determined to return, I'd been having some trouble figuring out where it was! No longer!

    Aurora

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  11. Oh, also, I forgot to mention that I believe the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature was also featured in the film, as the strange party location with all the taxidermy. I could be wrong of course, since I've never been there myself, but it seems like a rather unique location!

    Aurora

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  12. hi! thanks for this post! one question: is the restaurant you mention Les Lyonnais? or Aux Lyonnais?

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  13. The location of the taxidermy party was Deyrolle, 46 Rue Bac
    http://www.deyrolle.com/magazine/ . It is specifically named in the movie. A fun place to visit.

    Thanks for your post.

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  14. Anyone know the film location street used for "Bricktops" where Zelda and Scot take Gil the first night after the party becomes "boring"? Several sources say it is Bricktop's Big Apple, 66 rue Pigalle run by singer Ada "Bricktop" Smith. However, the street does not resemble the location used in the movie.

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  15. The antique store where Inez and her mother try to convince Gil to buy a set of chairs for 18,000 Euros is Philippe de Beauvais, 112 Boulevard De Courcelles. (Note: Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky Cathedral of Paris
    12 Rue Daru prominently seen upon the exiting onto Boulevard De Courcelles with BE - Boulangépicier, 73 Boulevard Courcelles across the street.

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  16. For those interested in some historical background on Paris in the 1920s, including the relationships of Hemmingway, the Fitzgeralds, Picasso, Stein, etc: Decoding Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" a NY Times article
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/28/movies/midnight-in-paris-a-historical-view.html

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  17. Midnight in Paris – other places

    Gil meets Hemingway the first time at The Polidor, 41 Rue Monsieur le Prince, which opened for business in 1845 but changed its name to Cremerie-Restaurant Polidor when it began serving cream desserts in the early twentieth century. Hemingway introduces Gil to Dali there. http://www.polidor.com

    Gil and Adriana take a walk after the party at Deyrolle. The street is foggy, they kiss and sit down in front of Restaurant Paul,115 Place Dauphine (Ile de la Cite) where a carriage picks them up taking them to Maxim’s 3 Rue Royale the social and culinary heart of Paris at the end of the 19th century—la belle époque.

    Near the end of the film after splitting up with Inez at the hotel, Gil has a beer at the cafe on the corner of Quai Tournelle and Rue des Bernardins. (Boz Souvenirs is located beside the cafe.)

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  18. The first night when Gil is picked up, he is taken to a party where he meets the Fitzgeralds. The door entered is at 55 Quai Bourbon (western tip of Ile St. Louis, just north of Pont St. Louis). The location has been staged and dramatically lit for the movie, but the railing, doorways, windows and other architectural details are unmistakable. Check it out on Google Maps street view.

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  19. Thank you very much,
    i was looking on the net were i can find this useful information.
    I will travel to Paris and will like to visit these places

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  20. Thank you very much! We love Paris and the movie and we really thank you for your suggestions!

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  21. Hi Ceilidh!
    Lovely post! The movie was amazing and I am going to Pais in 2 weeks! Can't wait! Thank you for your tips :-)

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  22. I travelled to Paris in 2009 and plan to live there in retirement to visit all the things I missed on the list. And convinced my husband to see the movie last year and he loves it too. Can't wait to show him Paris!

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