Amélie, or Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain, to give it the complete title, is one of the funniest and most charming films of recent years to be set in Paris. It makes a wonderful preview of Paris for many visitors and the best bit? This area of Paris really has the ‘village feel’ depicted in the film, and it is possible to visit it. Here’s where to find the Amélie filming locations in Paris.
Paris is a large city but the area Amélie calls home is relatively compact. Montmartre is spread out across the Butte de Montmartre (a hill in the north of Paris), on top of which stands Sacre Coeur. Montmartre has a charm all of its own and offers the visitor a maze of old cobbled streets to wander, views to enjoy and cafes to indulge in. Exploring the same streets Amélie walked just makes it even more magical.
Most of these locations are in Montmartre:
Café des Deux
Moulins (above) – 15 rue Lepic
The most
obvious must-see is the café where Amélie worked as a waitress, both because it
features a lot in the film, and because the café today pays homage to and
celebrates the film with a large Amélie film poster on the back wall. Much of
the original décor remains, although Georgette’s tabac corner is gone. While
you’re there make sure you crack the top of a crème brulée with a spoon Amélie-style!
Maison Collignon
– 56 rue des Trois Freres
Monsieur Collignon’s
business still operates as a small corner shop, although a lot more calmly than
in the film. The already-existing shop made famous by the film today sells fruit,
vegetables, groceries, and these days, familiar with tourist visits, a few
postcards. The window along the west side of the shop is filled with newspaper
cuttings about the making of the film and interviews with the (real) owner of
the shop. Amélie’s flat was upstairs, accessible via the first door on the west
side of the building.
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| Maison Collignon grocery shop, 56 Rue des Trois Freres, Paris |
Lamarck
Caulaincourt Metro – between rues Lamarck and Caulaincourt
This is the
metro station where Amélie parts ways with the blind man to whom she described,
in a whirlwind of vivid details, all the life surrounding them as she helped him
cross the street. Don’t be surprised that the shops are not in the mere steps
from the metro, as they seem to be in the film; they are all nearby.
Palace Video –
Toys Palace, 37 Boulevard de Clichy
The sex shop
where Nino works was called Palace Video, but is now named Toys Palace and can
be found on main road Boulevard de Clichy in the Pigalle district, just down
the hill, south of Montmartre.
Sacre Coeur and
Square Willette
Landmark Sacre
Coeur is famous in its own right, but is also where Amélie sets up her treasure
hunt trail for Nino to reclaim his beloved photo album and she telephones him
from the public call box at the bottom of the hill (on Square Willette). There
is a lovely carousel here and it is a great spot from which to photograph Sacre
Coeur.
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| Sacre Coeur, Paris - Photo taken from Square Willette |
These locations are not in Montmartre, but not far away:
Notre Dame –
Ile de Cite
Careful if you
look up while outside Notre Dame; this is where Amélie’s mother died after a
suicidal tourist jumped from the bell tower and landed on her!
Pont des Arts –between
the Institut de France and the Louvre
Walk north
across the Seine river, as Amélie did, and see if you also feel a ‘ surge of
love’ and desire to start doing good deeds!
Canal St Martin
– 10th arrondissement
If, like Amélie,
you enjoy skimming stones over the surface of water, Canal St Martin is where
she skims one.
La
Motte-Picquet Grenelle Metro – Line 6, 15th arrondissement
This is where
Amélie sees Nino’s ‘Ou et Quand?’ posters
These Amélie
filming locations are all in central Paris and easy to get to. So, if you’ve
ever fantasized about having an Amélie moment next time you’re in Paris. Why
not?
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