France has huge allure

France has huge allure for movie producers, let alone actors lucky enough Paris, like a film set © Peter Jones Seduced by wonderful architecture, beautiful cities and towns and wonderful countryside, France provides the perfect movie location. Add in the glorious golden light of Provence, seascapes perfect for Bond girls, mountains for feats of bravado and derring-do, châteaux providing the most romantic of settings - France deserves its own billing! Then there’s the food – and wine – that every film shot in France seems to focus upon at some stage. The 100 foot Journey with Helen Mirren shot in the Midi Pyrénées was all about cuisine and a restaurateur’s quest for an elusive second Michelin star! Perhaps the attraction of France as a movie location came when French films started to be shown overseas in the 50’s and 60’s. I mean just look what Brigitte Bardot did for St Tropez in 1956 with And God created Woman. In 1964, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (filmed in Normandy) launched the career of Catherine Deneuve with her luminous beauty, and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards in the USA. Iconic films featuring Paris Audrey Hepburn enchanted us in several movies, including the iconic Charade – a love story set in Paris featuring Cary Grant. Although her stunning apartment, beside the Parc Monceau, is actually a museum, the Jardins des Champs Elysées and the Palais Royale also feature as well as a bateau mouche along the Seine by night. It’s the 98 | The Good Life France

to film here says Joanna Leggett… perfect introduction to this wonderful city - with timeless Givenchy couture to boot. In the wonderfully quirky Amélie with Audrey Tatou, Paris, and Montmartre in particular, was almost a character in its own right. La Vie en Rose included a visit to Edith Piaf’s favourite restaurant, Julien, an Art Nouveau brasserie in the 10th arrondissement. And, while we’re talking Parisian bistros, La Renaissance in the 18th has featured in almost a dozen films including Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds as well as Stuntwoman starring the late, great, Jean Paul Belmondo. Then there’s Le Grand Vefour restaurant in rue du Beaujolais, where time seems to have been suspended since the 19th century. It’s been frequented by everyone from Bonaparte to Coco Chanel. It played its part in the film Coco before Chanel as well as in Midnight in Paris, which spotlights a veritable smorgasbord of gorgeous Paris locations. Time for Action! Time to move south to Marseille – perhaps first put on the entertainment map by Alexandre Dumas who set the Count of Monte Cristo in the Château d’If, on a rocky © Wazim The Good Life France | 99