France
For lovers of vintage film posters and stills going back to the early days of cinema, Cinedoc is the place to head to. Drawers of amazing french vintage film posters vie for your attention competing with scene stills and photographs of the stars of all nationalities. The shop is crammed from floor to ceiling - a treasure trove. Cinedoc is in the Passage Jouffroy, a wonderful almost secret network of covered glazed shopping arcades dating from the nineteenth century. Each of the 30 passages has its own architectural style - some like the Galerie Vero-Dodat are very grand with black marble columns and painted shopfronts. Others such as the Passage des Panoramas are a little run down but contain delightful bric-a-brac shops and stamp dealers. The Passages of Paris are hidden gems well worth discovering away from the traffic clogged boulevards.
Cinedoc
45-53 Passage Jouffroy
7500 Paris
France
T: 01 48 24 71 36
www.cine-doc.fr
Located off Boulevard Montmartre
Metro: Grandes Boulevards
Take the metro to Boulogne Pont de St-Cloud, and take a short walk to the Jardin Albert Kahn.
There are very attractive gardens and a little museum which has exhibitions of the photographs and films that he commissioned between 1909 - 1931. This remarkable man sent photographers to remote areas of the world to record the people and how they lived. There has recently been a documentary on television about him and the amazing collection.
It is possible to purchase postcards and posters in the small shop. Unfortunately, the salon de the in the Palm house is not open because the building needs urgent renovation, but there are bars and brasseries next to the metro entrances. This was a fascinating place to visit and is off the usual tourist trail. Highly recommended.
Before the film 'Amelie', it was just another cafe in Montmartre. It serves perfectly good food and drink, as it always did, and lies on the tourist trail between the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur.
Now it's a stop for a coffee, or lunch, because everyone wants to see the film location. Apart from the tobacco counter, everything is just as it was in the film, including the miniscule 'toilette' where the earth-shaking sex scene took place.
When I made my visit it was full of art students rather than tourists, perhaps you need to go there in the evenings to find out if the locals still actually use it. As a rare example of a real life film set though, it's priceless.
15 Rue Lepic
Metro: Abbesses
Renamed Maison Collignon after its role in the fabulous film Amelie - the sign above the awning has remained since filming - the grocery shop Marche de la Butte and it's owner, Ali, have found themselves local celebrities. He's really run with the fame the film brought him, and the shop is decorated with film memorabilia. Fending off hordes of dreaming Amelie-philes could have been too much for a small shop, and the Cafe des Moulins round the corner has certainly gone downhill since filming, but that's not the case at the Marche de la Butte. It's fun to visit - and also a great grocers!
Rue des Trois Freres, Montmartre, Metro: Abbesses
Richard Linklater's sequel to Before Sunrise is gentle, honest and quite unlike anything else from a mainstream American director at the moment. It's also a love letter to Paris, and the city manages to enchant you all over again as Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy wander its streets and talk, talk, talk.
Or Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. Now they've lost the Olympics we can afford to harbour nice feelings about the French, can't we? This delighful and wholly whimsical piece of candyfloss shows French directors can please crowds as well as critics.
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