BEFORE SUNSET PARIS LOCATIONS

BEFORE SUNSET LOCATIONS

Richard Linklater’s romantic trilogy weaves together the travel preface and the daydreamer’s expressive power.  The eventful decades of the life of the main characters are to come into focus in the wings of the walking-like dialogues in the frame of a single day. After an undreamed-of Vienna, an ancestral inheritance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the second movie fascinates us with another architectural and cultural icon of Europe. PARIS. The film narrative conveys the impression of continuity of the promenade film and key with the filming locations, fading from one place into another. Along with that, following the footsteps of Jesse and Celine across Paris would devote more time, as well as thoughtfulness, and sessions of a precise look at the city map. The Before Sunset locations invent their version of Paris, the second-to-none cinematic reality, its capital city of France, yet without defusing the story’s virtues, if not giving a vivid accent. 

‘SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY’ BOOKSTORE

The curtain-raiser of the second chapter of the iconic story by Richard Linklater springs up with Jesse on his own, gathered around by the admirers of bookish leisure time in the heart of Paris. That June 1994 walking promenade across Vienna had not only left him a bulk of memories to turn into a novel but also changed Jesse’s life once and for all time. The blazing reflections on our life through the keyhole and the autobiographical nature of all our stories, Jesse loses his confident pace of speech once he notices the semi-conscious fraction of the past: Celine in person.  The once romanticized (using time, self-imagination, and the novel) character unexpectedly comes into focus. Unless the back story from VIENNA, this Paris eye contact nicely fits the picture of ‘coup de foudre’ or love at first sight. The moment when you confusedly compile the thoughts and pronounce some thoughts to turn the situation into something beyond unease. 

The unexpected acquaintance between Jesse and Celine came through the reality among the shelves of the ‘SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY’ bookstore, which had been winning the enthusiasm of writers and book readers for more than half a century. Celine makes an easy confession: ‘Shakespeare and Co’ is no less than her favorite bookish shrine in Paris, and she was indeed amazed to reveal a book that had been written about one day in Vienna. A semi-anecdotic reminiscence on Jesse’s night next to the bookworms is neither more nor less than a tribute to a tradition of shelter for travelers. The bookstore and consequently the starting point of the movie route could be easily found at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, the very heart of Paris, and virtually across the Seine river to the iconic ‘Notre Dame de Paris’. The sorcery of cinematic perception would trustily conceal the fact that it is no farther than a few hundred meters; our characters would later take the riverboat transport. All while Celine and Jesse are shyly keeping the dialogue ball rolling at the front of the bookstore, the famous CITE island could be easily identified in the background, as well as the eastern wing of the magnet-like cathedral. The very bookstall has changed slightly since the summer of 2003 (the period of filming), and a sidewalk cafe still appeases tourists next to it. ‘Shakespeare and Company’ often appears in movies, with probably the most evident example in ‘Midnight in Paris’ (2001). 

The upcoming promenade originates just a few steps away from the entrance to ‘SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY’. Celine gently lays a course of walking to a cozy cafe nearby. The side street is known as Rue Saint-Julien le Pauvre, named after the Church of the XII century of the same name, a landmark that will also become a part of the scene a few minutes later. It extends for no more than 100 meters, yet a convenient occasion to recall the 1994 promise to meet again at the railway station of Vienna. Jesse and Celine lead their slow pace to Rue Galande sidewalk, a street with a myriad of shops and cafes. The scene is being shaped until the very moment when cinematic magic takes us to another location. 

RUE DES JARDINS ST PAUL – CHARLEMAGNE – EGINHARD

Celine leads away to a turn to the right, and the semi-improvised promenade is to be endured along with a metal enclosure, another Parisian church, and a succession of turns and narrow sidewalks. The movie’s story identifies the natural continuity of the route with a smooth transition of the streets, the same way it was previously succeeded in Vienna nine years before the actual event.  The long-drawn scenes with a minimum of cuts are set to complement the illusion of real-time walking, accessible for any viewer to be recreated within the streets of Paris. 

The very moment Celine leads our way to turn right from Rue Galande street, the movie Geography plays a double game and takes us to the other bank of the Seine River, this time across Saint-Louis island, located to the East of the city. The characters find themselves within ‘RUE DES JARDINS ST PAUL’ street, and a long metal palisade separates us from a playing ground and Saint-Paul Saint-Louis church in the background. A few minutes later, Jesse and Celine make their way to RUE CHARLEMAGNE and, a few steps later, to EGINHARD, two short pedestrian sidewalks more like blind alleys.  

BEFORE SUNSET PARIS LOCATIONS: LE PURE CAFE

The shift of the camera perspective (from the frontal to the behind-the-back position) creates another illusion with the natural sense of the fact that our characters turn aside Eginhard Street to find themselves in front of the desired cafe. In sober fact, Parisian ‘Le Pure’ cafe is located nothing less than half an hour’s distance from the very arc (Eginhard) and close to Celine’s home, which would not be seen until the final phase of the story.  Two lovebirds come open with a mutual confession that they are both happy to live this moment through, even with failed attempts to hide a warming puzzlement. Twosome is accommodated within a cafe with a vintage front and a typical French interior. The upcoming dialogue deepens into the previous nine years, places of residence in New York, and the transformation of the appearance. The very scene resembles the one from the first movie with a chat inside the ‘Sperl cafe’ in the heart of Vienna. 

‘COULEE VERTE’ PARK

As they leave ‘Le Pure’ cafe, a memorable Parisian Before Sunset location, Celine points out some new direction beyond the current perspective with a fresh idea to spend some time within a Parisian park, which later happens to be one of the jewels of the whole promenade.  It appears that ‘Coulée Verte René-Dumont’ in some way overhangs the city with a small crowdedness of people so that two loving birds can touch the more intimate issues. The night in Vienna Park is not to shy away from, and each of the two, in fact (the story would correct this later), has its memories on the same occasion. A few hours later, Celine would confess that it was more than hard for her to admit the importance of that single night in Austria, an event that had changed her life and worldview once and for all. 

‘Coulée Verte René-Dumont’ park is to be found over a significant distance from ‘Le Pure’ cafe, to be pointed out by Celine’s finger. One can enter this narrow walking area of 5 km long employing a few entrances. The main characters use stairs next to the Voie AA/12 passage, at a short distance from the ‘Gare de Lyon’ train station, where a scene from ‘The Tourist’ with Angelina Jolie was filmed. The initial perspective places us above the street, and later Jesse and Celine lead their way in the western direction. They make their way across a cozy bridge above the streets and between two buildings, a place that is to be easily recognized once you reach the park. 

SEINE RIDE

The last shots within an add-on park are to be succeeded by another location, once again close enough to the Seine River. Richard Linklater has not so much reflected the actual geography of Paris as he created his cinematic version. It would demand at least one hour of walking to cover the distance between the steps of the ‘Coulee Verte’ park and the riverwalk with Notre Dame in the background, thus on the opposite bank of the river. This very paseo with skeletons of bikes and motorbikes taken out of the water is to be found across the endpoints of Cité and Saint-Louis islands. Jesse and Celine enjoy the view over ‘The Ponte de Archeveche’ bridge with a riverboat at the ‘Port de Montebello’ pier. Nowadays, the iconic Cathedral (Notre Dame), the old-time jewel of Paris, is concealed behind the construction scaffolds and multiple ranks of the barbed fence. Relatedly, the amazing panorama over the Seine is nowhere but at one’s place. This particular section of the Seine bank has been favored by many cinematographers and appeared in ‘Midnight in Paris’, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (2006), ‘European Vacation’ (1985), and ‘Bourne Identity’ (2002). 

Celine avows herself with the truth that she has never taken advantage of the riverboats, conventionally full of tourists. One of the brief moments of this inspiring river ride over the Seine would complement the story with a famous sunset scene, which could be easily recognized due to the movie poster. We are left open-mouthed with a hypnogenic panorama over ‘Notre-Dame de Paris’, a recipient sensitive to a semi-legendary story on how the iconic landmark was preserved from destruction by its beauty. All while the riverboat makes its move in a direction away from the Cité island, our couple would later float under ‘Ponte Notre-Dame’, a bridge of a self-explanatory name on the opposite side towards the island. 

The two love birds come into the open with new confessions and failed attempts to hide their feelings as their Seine transport moves closer to the next stop. They found themselves on a pier next to ‘Quai Henri IV’. The far background reveals the southern peaked side of the Saint-Louis island, as well as ‘Barye square’, a triangular park along the water. Taking the perspective to the right, we can be satisfied with the view over the ‘Sully’ bridge. Taking a few steps along the river line of the pier, Jesse and Celine finally get into a car, assigned to take the writer to the airport. The transport makes its way to the ‘Quai Henri IV’ riverwalk. 

CELINE’S HOME

The next few minutes inside the moving car galvanically reveal the most emotional dialogue of the recent hours of promenading across Paris. Subsequent to new revelations on the Vienna experience, Jesse admits being fascinated by this unexpected acquaintance with no fear of the fact that Celine had had all the chances to become the maniac-like depressive activist. The car comes to Celine’s home in Paris and moves into an arc. This location could be found at ‘Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine’ street, and the arc has changed slightly since the summer of 2003, the time Before Sunset Paris locations were used. The considerate observer has all the changes to reveal the wooden tablet with an inscription: ‘COUR DE L’ETOILE D’OR’, which can be translated as ‘The Court of the golden star’. Several cozy courtyards have been historically located here within a kind of residential commune, and the entrance arc is often closed, yet I was lucky enough to follow the very route that Celine and Jesse made. 

The final scene of the Paris promenade covers only a few dozen meters along with the courtyards. The couple gets acquainted with welcoming neighbors and pets, and the upcoming flight is to be regarded as less and less concerning. The very entrance to the residential house has changed a little since 2003, and the stairs are to look as scuffed and tatty as the movie depicted, yet with its Parisian atmosphere. The location symbolizes the end of the second chapter of the incredibly romantic story—the mutual movie journey of Jesse, Celine, Richard Linklater, and each of us. 

My cinematic tour across all key Before Sunset Paris locations in 4K. I took the footage during a three-day stay in pairs in July 2019