I already find it amusing how ordinary places in this wide world become true pilgrimage spots after appearing in movies or TV shows.
PARIS
I love Paris and I know many of its famous tourist landmarks; I also know many lesser-known streets, considering that I’ve been there 18 times as a tourist so far…
Even so, when I spotted some locations in Emily in Paris that appeared repeatedly, I pulled out the map to see where they were. Just out of curiosity – something I’ve done with other films as well. The difference this time was that I wasn’t looking them up online anymore, but searching for them physically, on foot.
My surprise was quite big when I realized that these places, which became “stars” thanks to the series, are actually very close to major tourist attractions!
EMILY’S APARTMENT – PLACE DE L’ESTRAPADE
I’m in the Latin Quarter, just a stone’s throw from the Panthéon – which is worth visiting even just for Foucault’s Pendulum. I’ve stood there watching it every single time, completely mesmerized.
If you take the small street to the right of the Panthéon, you reach a little square and… wow, look where Emily in Paris lives! It’s a really beautiful spot, quite far from the tourist crowds. Well, at least it was, until the series came out and word got around.
Several people are taking photos, some are sitting on the benches in the small park, others are posing in the doorway of the building, getting their stories ready.
I take a few selfies myself, shoot a short video, and then head toward another “point of interest” in the square:
Gabriel’s restaurant – the setting of so many scenes in the series.
In reality, the restaurant is called Terra Nera and it’s an Italian restaurant, not a French one like in the movie. It’s closed now, a sign that the owners have gone away for the holiday season.
We all peer through the windows, hoping to spot some trace of the series… no luck, actually, because the restaurant’s interior was built on a studio set. Only the exterior scenes were filmed here.
Even so, I find out that after the success of the series, the restaurant added a new dish to its menu, called “Tagliatelle Emily”.
La Boulangerie Moderne is the real bakery where Emily buys the croissants that leave her “bouche bée”. I would have liked to be amazed too, but I’m not lucky, it’s closed…
EMILY’S OFFICE – PLACE DE VALOIS, GALERIE PATRICK FOURTIN
Just a step away from the Louvre, yet far from the tourist bustle, in a small square/an inner courtyard that hosts a restaurant with a terrace and a five-star hotel, I come across Emily’s office.
The ground-floor gallery – by which I immediately recognized the place – is a real gallery, specializing in vintage pieces and modern interior art.
I find the building’s entrance door wide open and take advantage of it: I go in while filming, but only as far as the elevator, since I’m not the type to barge into someone else’s property. Apparently, this is the headquarters of a law firm, not a marketing agency like in the show, though it gives me the impression that there are also private apartments in the building.
An Asian delivery courier with a backpack is patiently waiting by the elevator, ready to go up and deliver a lunch.
I leave.
When I decide to film a second take, just to be sure I have something usable, a slightly irritated man asks me to leave the building. He seems to be a resident. I politely apologize and step outside. How many must I be among the dozens of people who have rushed in since the series came out?…
I cross the square and reach the courtyard of the Palais-Royal.
How on earth have I never seen this before?? I absolutely love it!!! With its uneven columns shooting up from the ground, which children and young people keep climbing – some chasing each other, others taking photos. (They are the Buren Columns, which, to my shame, I’m only now learning about.)
Right next to it, a beautiful park opens up, which I recognize immediately from the series. It’s the Jardin du Palais-Royal, the park where Emily and Mindy first met – when the latter was scolding two children in Chinese.
What I love is that it doesn’t feel like a typical Parisian tourist spot at all. It’s as if, between the walls of elegant buildings, they managed to tuck away a park just for themselves!
EMILY IN PARIS – FILMING LOCATIONS
Alright, these people filmed in a ton of other places around Paris as well, and of course they didn’t miss some famous, ultra-touristy spots either – for which they obtained special permits that are normally granted very rarely! Now… may God forgive me, but I think they must have paid a small fortune for those permits.
One example is the Opéra-Palais Garnier, where they filmed in hidden corners that aren’t accessible to the public. Or at night on the magnificent Pont Alexandre III – again, only with top-level approvals.
And among my favorites, located in Montmartre, is Rue de l’Abreuvoir – considered the most Instagrammable street in Paris.
And right here is the café La Maison Rose as well.
Many Parisians, who suddenly found film crews right at their doorsteps, complained about disruptions, about tourists flooding their neighborhoods, and about the “Americanization” of Paris’s image. But, as it turns out, some places became so popular after the series that they actually started bringing commercial benefits to those areas!
After the first season, restaurants, cafés, and bakeries at the filming locations reportedly saw up to 40% more tourists!
The series boosted tourism in Paris (as if Paris were lacking visitors to begin with…), and it will probably now increase tourism in Rome as well, with season 5 (where, likewise, it’s not as if there weren’t already hordes of foreigners).
EMILY IN ROME
Besides the scenes filmed in iconic locations such as the Trevi Fountain or Piazza di Spagna – for which the city granted ultra-special permits – many of the interior scenes set in Rome were actually filmed at the legendary Cinecittà studios, where famous films like La Dolce Vita, Romeo and Juliet, Gladiator, or the HBO series Rome were produced.
I visited Cinecittà in Rome for the first time this year. I’ll tell you about my experience in the world of these famous sets very soon. It’s laugh-out-loud funny…
Until then, though, see how I stood around like a crazy person – more than once, actually – trying to catch Emily… in London, to get her autograph. Read it here.
Bonus – Álvaro Morte 🙂
