ilovetotravel29

Have you ever been watching a movie and it dawned on you in that thrilling way that you stood where that actor/actress stood? That you have seen or been at the places that are shown in the film?

It may sound silly, but to me it is a nice little thrill to realize that I have been in front of the little glass pyramid at the Louvre, or used that same tube station. It reminds me of the fun I had on my travels.

Toupary

ilovetotravel 29 -

I agree. I think it's really exciting. When I lived in the States, I would watch almost any movie if I knew it took place in Paris. If it was shot in some neighborhood off the beaten track, I would be desperately searching for street signs or metro stations, trying to figure out where it was.

It was also fun that several films were shot in my old neighborhood in Washington - St Elmo's Fire, A Few Good Men, Absolute Power. A friend and I sat on some steps and watched Clint Eastwood.

I'm going to see the DaVinci Code, not for the movie, but because it was shot here. Yes, I definitely know what you mean.

ilovetotravel29

Thanks, Toupary! I always appreciate it when others have the same excitement about travel and don't let themselves become complacent about it. It always irks me when you hear people talk of their travels as if it is just no big deal at all.

I might see the Da Vinci Code as well.

Toupary

I don't think I'll ever become complacent about Paris. Sometimes I am somewhere and think about the people who have walked on that same spot. I live here now, and it's still just as good. And I still like to see movies with Paris scenes. I think you understand.

ilovetotravel29

Most definately.

have a good cup of Parisian coffee for me with the steamed milk on the side...

sigh, I miss that coffee!!!

Toupary

I guess it's time to come back where you can get it!

tcreath

Oh yes! I watched Before Sunrise a few months after I got back from Vienna, and I recognized several areas that I had been on our trip. I love that movie, and I get a sense of longing for Vienna any time I watch it.

Tracy

ilovetotravel29

I would so go back to Paris in a heartbeat if I could. Yes, indeed!

Toupary

I haven't seen Before Sunrise, but I loved Before Sunset. A friend tells me I need to watch them one after the other. Sounds like fun.

The flip side of the coin is that sometimes I'm walking past something and it reminds me of the movie (like the boat ride in Before Sunset).

tcreath

Toupary, definitely check out Before Sunrise! Its a great movie, and will help you understand Before Sunset (another great movie, and reminds me of our Paris trip!), as most of the movie refers back to the first one.

Tracy

JoeTro

I saw the second one in that series (is that Before Sunrise) while in Paris with a friend, and it was amazing to think I had been by places just that day that the actors had ... I also liked that it was shot in real time and that I got to see it with a French audience.

laclaire

I watched "L'Auberge espagnole" a few months ago, and it takes place in Barcelona. When they walked past my office, I burst into tears. It was just so much nostalgia. Same thing with Good Will Hunting. Seeing my old college stomping grounds is so much fun now that I am no longer in Cambridge.

polly229

I enjoy seeing films made in places I've visited as well as the reverse - visiting places where movies I've enjoyed were filmed. Not just in Europe but in the US as well. Sometimes I try to get films before I make a trip - The Third Man before we went to Vienna in Dec., for example.

But even more than that, I love reading books set in places I've visited and visiting places that were settings in books. Of course, I have had to adjust to the fact that when I actually see the places I imagined when reading, they will be different than I expected.

ggreen

Yes, I definitely agree - though I tend to get distracted from the film when I realize the location is someplace familiar, because I'm so busy trying to see the elements in the background!

Also, I like the way that seeing a locale in a movie or reading it in a book (as polly229 points out) informs my perspective when I visit the place myself. Even when it's a place I've previously visited, a story can reinform how I perceive it... On my recent trip to Paris, I saw the steps and park descending from Sacre Coeur in a completely different way than I ever had before: I hadn't been up there in many years and generally avoided that area as full of tourists and sketchy types. This time I saw it very differently thanks to the climax of the movie Amelie. Remembering the movie made what would have been an odious request of my travelling companion a much happier event!

Carrybean

I was walking in Battersea Park when it dawned on me that I was walking in the exact place I had seen in movies (only in the movies it was foggy & misty.) It was a sort of weird deja vu but not quite.