Filming in Montmartre, the 18th arrondissement of Paris
Steep cobbled streets and stone staircases climb the highest hill in the city, and Amélie was shot here in 2001.
What Montmartre looks like
Montmartre is the highest hill in Paris, and its south face climbs in steps as often as in streets. runs 222 steps beside the funicular, from Place Saint-Pierre up to the . Rue Lepic winds up the west side instead, past the , the Radet windmill moved onto its roof at the corner of rue Girardon in 1924.
Off both streets the lanes narrow further, two to four storey houses in painted stucco with wooden shutters at most of the windows. A cluster of Art Deco houses on the Butte from 1926 mixes in brick and bow windows. Shopfronts along and Rue Lepic keep their awnings and chalkboard menus out on the cobbles.
sits at about 130 metres, usually named as the highest square in Paris. Cafe terraces ring it under gas heaters, tables set out between the painters' stalls. The Basilique du Sacré-Cœur stands just north of it, pale Château-Landon limestone that whitens in the rain, consecrated in 1919.
The vineyard runs along rue Saint Vincent on the quieter north slope, planted in 1932 and still yielding about 500 litres of wine a year. stands nearby at the corner of rue de l'Abreuvoir, pink walls and green shutters, with folding tables set out on the cobbles.
Shot in Montmartre
Jean-Pierre Jeunet shot Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain across Montmartre between 2 March and 7 July 2000, with the café's interior scenes built on a soundstage in Cologne. Amélie waits tables at the Café des Deux Moulins, 15 rue Lepic at rue Cauchois, which still trades under the same name.
Amélie, 2001
Amélie sets a trail of blue arrows painted on the curving paths and steps for Nino to follow, starting from the lowest tier of the square by the carousel and working up toward the basilica. He passes a costumed street performer pointing to a telescope on the next terrace, since removed, while Amélie waits below and leaves the photo album he lost on his bike.
La Croix-Rousse climbs a similar hill above central Lyon, with narrow stepped streets cutting between rows of shuttered apartment buildings at close to Montmartre's own scale. The render and building height are close enough that a wide establishing shot shows the same kind of hillside quarter. Lyon's stone runs greyer and its traboules are covered passages rather than open stairs, so an open staircase in a wide shot gives Montmartre away instead of Lyon. Try searching narrow stepped street now.
Butte-aux-Cailles in Paris, France
Butte-aux-Cailles keeps the same low houses and cobbled lanes on a smaller hill in the 13th arrondissement, with far less foot traffic than Montmartre for a production needing a quiet street. Ivy covered facades and painted shutters give it a similar village scale close to the middle of the city. There is no basilica or comparable skyline anchor here, so a wide shot naming the location needs a different landmark or none at all. Try searching quiet cobbled lanes now.
The Filbert and Greenwich Steps on Telegraph Hill cut down a hillside of small houses in wood and stucco, at a similar pitch and block scale to Montmartre's own stepped lanes. Both look like village streets that happen to sit inside a big city. San Francisco's houses are timber framed with bay windows rather than painted render, and the bay and ocean views at the bottom of the steps are a giveaway in any wide shot. Try searching stepped hillside street now.
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