Filmed in Paris: In the Footsteps of Lupin

The French Netflix series Lupin has become a huge international hit.  Like all films and series set in Paris, it’s fun to try and figure out where the key scenes were filmed around the city. Obviously there are the iconic Parisian monuments like the Eiffel Tower and Sacré Coeur that you’ll recognize right away, along with bridges such as the Pont des Arts. But there are plenty of other locations in and around Paris, some well known, some more obscure.

The Louvre (1^st arrondissement)

Much of the first episode takes place at the Louvre Museum, where the main character Assane Diop (played by Omar Sy) is a janitor checking out the Queen’s Necklace than he plans on stealing. You’ll see the familiar Gallery of Italian Paintings, the Mona Lisa and the Wedding at Cana. His co-conspirators even end up crashing their getaway Ferrari through the inverted pyramid. Fun fact: two popular music videos were also filmed at the Louvre in recent years, including “Mona Lisa Smile” by Will.i.am and “Apes**t” by the Carters (aka Beyoncé and Jay-Z).

Hotel Meurice (1^st)

Assane enters the Hotel Meurice where he steals the room card from the cleaning lady to confront Anne Pellegrini. The lobby is fairly unique, but you can also see the hotel’s logo — two greyhounds with the “M” — etched into the glass in the revolving door Assane passes through at the entrance. Juliette Pellegrini comes here in season two to visit her mother.

Rue de Rivoli (1^st)

Assane is standing under the easily recognizable stone arches of the Rue de Rivoli – with the tourist shop behind him and the wrought-iron fence of the Tuileries Gardens across the street –  when he tricks the cops into waiting outside while he cons a rich old lady out of her jewels.

Pont Neuf and the Square du Vert Galant (1st)

In the second season there are several flashback scenes to 1995 of young Assane and Ben on the quays with the Pont Neuf in the background. They rip off people in a gambling game on the tip of the Ile de la Cité, just outside the Square du Vert Galant. In the present, Assane returns there to meet with Juliette (and briefly pass below on their “stolen” scooter).

Place Dauphine (1st)

Anne Pellegrini meets with Inspector Ganimard on the terrace of Chez Paul in the Place Dauphine in the second season.

Théâtre du Châtelet and Pont au Change (1st)

This theatre is where the final coup de grace takes place in the final episode, during Juliette’s big fundraising event. Earlier in the season Ben and Assane sit on the stone balustrade of the Pont au Change after escaping the police in the Catacombes, looking at the theatre as they plot how it will all go down.

Bibliothèque de l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (2nd)

In the second season, Assane and Ben visit this historic library on the Rue Richelieu to find an accomplice for their plan to take down Pellegrini. We never learn the real name of “Philippe Courbet”.

Sunday in Soho (2nd)

Inspector Ganimard gets his coffee to go at this café on the corner of Rue St-Marc and Rue des Panoramas (before spilling it on his shirt when Assane calls).

Marie du Paris Centre (3^rd)

Commissioner Dumont is kidnapped in the Mairie de Paris Centre (formerly the Town Hall of the 3^rd, now housing the Town Hall for the first four arrondissements together). You can recognize the Carreau du Temple next door and the security camera showing “Rue Perée” where he loads the heavy box into a van on the side street. Across the street in front of it is the small park, Square du Temple-Elie Wiesel.

Passerelle de Mornay (4th/12th)

This is the footbridge where Assane meets up with Claire and Raoul in the final scene of the series. It crosses from the 4th to the 12th arrondissement over the Bassin de l’Arsenal, just south of the Place de la Bastille. You can see the Colonne de Juillet in the background of the scene (thanks to David Conrad for spotting this one!)

Tour St-Jacques (4th)

In the second season Assane is on the phone with his son while walking down the Rue Nicolas Flamel, with the base of the Tour St-Jacques behind him.

Le Jardin des Grands-Explorateurs (6^th)

In the first episode Assane has a flashback to 1995 with his dad walking past La Fontaine de l’Observatoire in the small park directly south of the Jardin du Luxembourg (officially called Le Jardin des Grands-Explorateurs Marco-Polo et Cavelier-de-la-Salle). As it starts raining and they see Madame Pellegrini in her car, and the easily recognizable red brick building in the background, the Institute of Art and Archeology (part of the Sorbonne University). I used to pass through this square every day on the way to school on the Rue d’Assas in 1995, so it was particularly fun to see this spot in the series.

Luxembourg Gardens (6^th)

In the present day, Assane disguises himself as a bike delivery guy to meet up with Juliette Pellegrini in the Jardin du Luxembourg. You’ll even see the historic little toy boats in the water basin.

Musée d’Orsay (7th)

Assane meets up with Juliette in the Musée d’Orsay in the second season. You’ll instantly recognize the large clock face window on the top floor.

Le Petit Palais (8^th)

The scene where Assane actually steals the necklace after the auction takes place in the lower-level lobby of the Petit Palais, not the Louvre. It’s recognizable for the enormous pillar and circular skylights (that are on the floor of the entrance hall), as well as the wood-paneled hall he exits through after the policeman pats him down (and finds just a pen). Fun fact: the diamond necklace really did exist in French history (the Affair of the Diamond Necklace was one of the reasons public sentiment turned against Marie Antoinette), but it was never recovered and auctioned off as shown in Lupin.

Nissim de Camondo Museum (8^th)

The scenes at the Pellegrini mansion (at least the exterior scenes) were filmed at the Nissim de Camondo Decorative Arts Museum near Parc Monceau. When he drops Juliette off from their “stolen” scooter ride in season two, the large gated entrance is to the nearby Avenue Ruysdaël.

Parc Monceau (8^th)

One of the flashback scenes where a young Assane and Claire are confronted by three troublemaking classmates (who pick a fight with Assane) takes place at the Parc Monceau. Just after the kids cross over the decorative bridge, you can see the 18^th-century colonnade in the background.

Square d’Anvers (9^th)

In the 4^th episode you see Assane approach the door to his apartment on the Square d’Anvers. There’s only one green space in the 9^th arrondissement with that view of Sacré Coeur in the background, and you can see the street sign for Avenue Trudaine at the crossroads when Fabienne comes to see him. Fun fact #1: I know this park because I lived I the 9^th in 1999 and was looking a green space to take my pet duck (…long story for another time). Fun fact #2: The building that’s supposedly his apartment is actually the back of the Lycée Jacques Decour, where Fred went to high school.

L’Appartement (9^th)

The neo-industrial style café where he meets his ex-wife Claire is L’Appartement on the northeast corner of the Rue du Faubourg St-Martin and Boulevard St-Martin. You can clearly see the Porte St-Martin behind them and when she leaves the café.

Bercy (12th)

In the most hilarious jump in the series so far, when Ben flees his shop at the Puces de St-Ouen (on the north side of Paris), a few moments later he’s on the phone with Assane and says he doesn’t know where he is, “I’m just walking.” However he’s now on the southeast corner of Paris in the 12^th (that’s a good 2-hour walk) right outside Bercy Village, going down the staircase of modern buildings leading to the Avenue des Terroirs de France (where you can see the name at the bus stop where he sits with the assassin). In the background you can see the pointed rooftops of the historic Pavillons de Bercy which now house the Musée des Arts Forains (Carnival Arts Museum).

The Catacombes (14th)

In a season two flashback to 1995, Ben and Assane visit the Catacombes as students, and are helpfully given a map to the tunnels that are closed to the public by the woman at the ticket office (“But don’t go down there, they’re dangerous,” she warns…this is probably the most absurd moment in the series). As adults, they use this very map (which just happens to be handy) to escape the police via a secret entrance to the Catacombes similar to the one in the photo below I took for another article in 2016). When they exit the tunnels, they come out at the Maison de Solenne on the Boulevard Pont Royal (which, not to be a jerk, wasn’t built until 2004, so the flashback part is anachronistic. But, you know, budget). At least they finally returned the map with a “tip”. 😉

Café Prunier (16^th)

In season two, Assane meets up with Juliette “by chance” at Café Prunier on Avenue Victor Hugo, where they engage in a bit of nostalgic dine-and-dash.

Parc de Clichy Batignolles – Martin Luther King (17th)

In season two you see an aerial shot of the Batignolles neighborhood with the large Tribunal de Justice towering over the park. Then it zooms in to the scene where Lucas Lacroix’s briefcase gets stolen by a hooded jogger (Ben) on the nearby Rue Mstislav Rostropovitch, and recuperated by a helpful onlooker (Assane).

Parc des Buttes Chaumont (19th)

This park is featured several times in season two. First Assane and Juliette meet at the Pont des Suicides where she asks him to steal Claire’s bracelet. Later they’re sitting in the Belvédère in the same park when he gives it to her. Finally, they meet briefly after he’s accused of murder.

Marché aux Puces (St-Ouen)

Assane’s friend Benjamin has a flea market stand at the Marché Biron in the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen, easily recognizable because it’s the only uncovered market with glass shop fronts (and the classy red carpet).

In the second season Assane and Ben have coffee at Au Roi du Café des Puces on the Rue Paul Bert (Marché Paul Bert).

Croix de Chavaux (Montreuil)

There are several scenes filmed in the eastern suburb of Montreuil, particularly the Croix de Chavaux housing project where Assane visits the thugs he tricks into helping him steal the necklace. It’s easy to recognize because the strange orange 1970s building right next door is the Conservatoire de Musique et de Danse de la Ville de Montreuil. Not sure if they meant it to be a coincidence or they didn’t think we’d notice that the same apartment block is where Assane lived until his father died. You see the Conservatory again when he tries to escape being sent to the social services by climbing out the window to the balcony.

Other Locations Outside Paris

According to articles in the French press about the filming, the private school Assane goes to where he meets Claire and Benjamin is the Collège de la Maison d’Education de la Légion d’Honneur Les Loges, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The prison scenes were filmed at the Bois-d’Arcy prison in Yvelines (near Versailles). And the decoy van lures police to a garage in the northeastern suburb of Pantin, but you don’t see much there. In the final cliff-hanger episode, Assane takes Claire and Raoul to the beach at Étretat, Normandy. This is a real place, quite famous for its rock formations.

Places that I haven’t figured out yet (anyone?)

• The restaurant where Claire tells Assane she’s pregnant (Update, spotted by reader Suzanne: it’s Le China)
• The restaurant where Assane gives his friend Benjamin the jewels to purchase his shop at the Marché aux Puces (Update: this is ALSO Le China, in a different room)
• The café where Assane confronts Dumont after the kidnapping, and gets Fabienne’s name
• The actual location of fictional newspaper L’Objecteur. This one is killing me because I recognize the façade, but can’t place it! (UPDATE: Secrets of Paris readers recognized this address at 8-10 rue du Renard, close to Hotel de Ville. “This happens to be the Technicolor Headquarters.”)

Interesting Detail #1: the Dreyfus Affair Reference

The journalist Fabienne Bériot’s dog is named “J’accuse” (which means “I accuse), which is the name of the famous 1898 open letter by the writer Émile Zola to the president of the French Republic in defense of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer who had been accused of treason by the French army and sent to prison. The letter eventually swayed public opinion enough that the case was reopened and Dreyfus was eventually acquitted of all charges in 1906.

Interesting Detail #2: the Inspiration for Lupin

In the final episode of season two, Claire is helping Raoul with his homework and says, “You don’t remember the birth date of Marius Jacob? It’s September 29th, 1879.” It was a brief moment before they heard the beeping with Assane’s message for them, but I noticed it because September 29th happens to be my birthday, too. So I did a search for the name and found out that Marius Jacob was the real-life “gentleman thief” who inspired the character of Arsene Lupin in Maurice Leblanc’s novels.

Looking for a Review and Some Context?

I won’t be getting into the details of the series here, since there are already plenty of excellent articles out there which can do that better than me. This one from the Guardian (UK) is the best I’ve found so far, especially useful for anyone who isn’t familiar with the original Arsène Lupin books from the early 20th century that inspired the series: How France’s Lupin became the surprise Netflix hit of the season

For a Laugh…

The French star Omar Sy (fairly well hidden behind a Covid mask) went unnoticed in the Paris Metro while putting up a poster for the series (in French…he tells the woman with the dog “It’s my first day, can you help me?”):