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A couple of silly questions... First, does anyone know of some good movies to hire which are filmed in, or feature in some other way, European sights? And I don't mean documentaries - I mean things like 'Roman Holiday' (or other movies with at least a half-decent story-line) Also, I have to admit I'm dumbfounded by everyone's stories about Europeans who have befriended tourists, shared a coffee with them and then invited them home for dinner - does this sort of thing really happen? Are they really that trusting? I wouldn't even invite half of my relatives over for dinner, let alone perfect strangers! (well, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little). According to these forums, there seems to be two types of Europeans - those that pick your pockets, and those that take you home to meet the family! Just a thought...

Debbie....check out the classic "Three Coins in the Fountain" It's set in Rome around the Trevi Fountain . Also has scenes in Venice. It's a wonderful story.

The movie Charade stars Paris along with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. To Catch a Thief by Alfred Hitchcock stars Grant, Grace Kelly, and Monaco. (Kelly liked the place so much, she married a local boy.) A recent French movie, Lautrec, has scenes of Montmartre in Paris, where Toulouse-Lautrec painted, as well as scenes in SW France, including the amazing frescos by the altar at the Cathedral of Albi. Being invited into a European home doesn't happen all that often when you're traveling, but when it does, it's an unforgettable experience. My husband and I still talk about the wonderful, impromptu lunch we had at a Greek tobacco farmer's home, while restaurant meals fade in significance.

Check out the movie- Forget Paris, cute movie most of it shot in Paris.

My favorite film shot in Europe still remains the utterly enchanting "Summertime" with Katherine Hepburn. It's set in and STARS really the city of Venice. It's a magical film made by David Lean (who also directed Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago among many other classics). I've seen it a dozen times over the years and I still love it.

Debbie, In addition to those films mentioned above, all of which I've seen many times, I'd like to add "A Month by the Lake" with Vanessa Redgrave and "Enchanted April."

the movie "French Kiss" can be seen over and over again . . . it's great! many Paris scenes, great train ride to the south of France, etc. Excellent romance. Kevin Kline as a Frenchman, Meg Ryan. also the movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral" shows great UK scenes: churches, castle in Perthshire, etc." It is a funny movie, and I had to watch closely to catch the great humor. Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell also "Circle of Friends" showing Ireland as it may have been in the 50s and early 60s and really a great story line. the book is by Maeve Binchy. Both are excellent. Stars Minnie Driver Then, obscure film, "The Secret of Roan Inish" if you want to see the west coast of Ireland, the curraghs, the way they lived in small fishing cottages, and if you want to live the legend of the selkies through watching the movie. You might want to watch "The Secret Garden" to see a grand manor house in Britain and gardens surrounding it. Somewhat a child's movie, but an adult would enjoy it. Also, for a few Venice scenes, watch "Only You" . It is a comedy, girl chases the man of her destiny all over italy . . . Gosh, how could we forget "Sabrina?" Both the black and white, and the recent. You'll get Paris scenes. Now that we've effectively filled your weekend, who is bringing the popcorn?

Forgot to add this: 5 years ago we were in the Black Forest for a week. Went into the big cuckoo clock shop there, and my husband promptly decided to buy the most expensive one there: the biggest, had three bears on it, two songs, a huge monster thing to be shipped home. Of course he made friends with the older gentleman who assisted him, who invited us to his home for dinner the next evening. Gave us directions, we drove there, and had a lovely German meal. Wife and daughter spoke no English, and we had a great time. Another time, in Aruba, we made friends with the shopkeeper and she invited us to her home for her grandmother's 90th birthday party. I'll never forget the goat stew (stoba) and the kindness of these people. I think we are pretty good judges of people, and we are humble when visiting other countries, we are reasonable when making purchases, we don't make any demands, etc. We have a lot of very nice people as friends here in the USA, so it is pretty easy to make friends elsewhere.

I mean no offense, but there is an old saying that all of us should heed: "To have a friend, one must be a friend." Distrust breeds distrust, just as surely as friendship begets friendship. Even a dog can sense this. And humans are very sensitive to another's feelings. Just watch and see.

Debbie, Regarding trust: Many years ago, when I was somewhat more naïve and a lot younger than now, I toured Germany, Holland and Belgium by car. One wretched rainy morning I left Amsterdam with the intent of viewing the Zuider Zee dike project. On the outskirts of Amsterdam I saw a bedraggled, soaked young man hitch hiking and offered him a lift. He was returning to his home outside of Groningen and I offered to drive him there after viewing the diking project. Much to my delight I discovered he was an hydraulic engineering student. He gave me a superb overview of the project, its mechanics, history and its eventual intent. I stopped for gas at Harlingen and the young fellow made a phone call. Upon his return to the car he announced that he had called home and I was more than welcome to share lunch with his family. I did so, spending a fascinating interlude in an immense farm house with living quarters in one wing and a cow shed and stable in another. The experience was so delightful and unexpected that I vowed, for the remainder of my tour, to pick up hitchhikers and go wherever they were going. A Belgian architectural student introduced me to the astounding Stadhuis of Louvain; two architectural students, one Italian, the other Austrian who were hitch hiking together though neither spoke the other's language and had to converse in English (to my relief) introduced me to LeCorbusier's pilgrimage church in Ronchamp, France; three young women traveling from Amsterdam to Bremen treated me to dinner in Bremen's Ratskeller in appreciation for their ride home and my taking them to the Kroller Muller museum. They invited me to come back to Bremen so they could give me a tour of the city, which they and I did some ten days later, including a visit to Worpswede, an artists colony northwest of the city that I found to be fascinating. During the four weeks, I picked up 36 hitch hikers and went where they were going. I saw 90% of what I intended to see, all through the eyes of someone knowledgeable and interested in showing me the sights. I also saw and experienced a great deal that I couldn't have begun to have planned for.

Debbie, One of my favorite movies set in Europe is "The Shell Seekers". It is set in the Cotswolds and Cornwall.

Just to chip in with my own thoughts... Last October a couple from Arizona posted a few messages regarding their upcoming vacation which included Edinburgh, where most of you know I live. I helped them out by visiting the B&B they asked about, took a look at it and proclaimed it fine. They then invited me to dinner to say thanks. I had mentioned this to my parents once when visiting them and they immediately said 'Well, you must invite them over here for a meal as well'. That I did, in fact my folks showed them around a part of the country the next day that perhaps they would never have been able to see under other circumstancesas well. The trust is on both sides: I trusted them and they me ( I could have led them into a deserted alley and mugged them or whatever) They both had a fantastic time as did my parents and have invited any of my family out 'there' to stay. Now I am not saying that this is true for all people BUT if you are willing to stick your neck out a little then you may be pleasantly surprised. Debbie at the end of the day if you are American visiting Europe then, on the whole, i think it unlikely that you are going to steal from your guests house etc .. In short, we trust you!

"A Room with a View" scenes of Florence and England. "American Dreamer" starring JoBeth Williams, and mostly takes place in Paris.

OOh, there are so many. I love the Italian ones myself. Three that have yet to be mentioned are Only you (w/Marisa Tomei, Robt. Downey Jr.), Il Postino and of course, this year's Oscar winner Life is Beautiful. Don't forget Amadeus...

Debbie: Here's an incredible story. My husband met a wealthy man on an airplane coming over here to Edinburgh from Arizona. The man said that when he was just out of college, he and a friend came to Edinburgh, rented a car and drove around Scotland. One very rainy night on their way to Glasgow from Edinburgh, they stopped at a pub, got a meal and struck up a conversation with a Scottish couple. They had a great time, but realized they inbibed a bit too much and asked where the nearest hotel was. Well, the couple wouldn't hear of them going anywhere but their own house. The man wanted to learn about American culture and thought that this would be an ideal way to do so. In turn, he took the next 3 days off of work to show this guy around Scotland! The end of the visit came regretfully for the American and to show his appreciation, he went out a bought gifts for the couple. The wife received a hoover and a microwave (neither of which she had but had told him she wanted *badly*) and the man was given a fly-fishing rod, because that was his favorite pasttime. The American couldn't figure out why the woman wouldn't open her gifts and seemed very uncomfortable, but he soon found out. When the man came home from work, he was incensed, brought the American outside, grabbed him by the shirt and proceeded to yell. He told the young man that he offered his home out of kindness, that he just wanted to learn about American customs and was insulted that the young man even considered buying him off. The young American exclaimed, "But, in America, it IS the custom to give gifts to people who have opened their house to others!" To which the man laughed and replied, "It is? Well then, let's go see what you gave us!" They were thrilled with their gifts and finished off the evening celebrating at the local. True? We don't know because we don't know the man from the airplane, but I can tell you one thing, it sounds like something that would happen here. Even if it's not, it's a great story. As for a movie, "Waking Ned" just came to Scotland recently and showed great scenery of the Isle of Man. Also, is "Tea with Mussolini" out on video yet? It must have some great scenes of Florence in it. Anyway, have fun!

Before we left for our Paris trip, I caught the last two-thirds of the abovementioned "Charade" with Audrey and Cary on late-night TV. It struck me that it would make a fun Paris double feature with "Funny Face", which, I've since learned, was also directed by Stanley Donen. Instead of Cary, Fred is the male lead, so there's lots of singing & dancing. Along with the May-September (October? November?) romance, there's a fun spoof of the fashion industry. Think pink!

How about "National Lampoons European Vacation"? I know it's silly, but I crack up every time I see it. Plus it shows a lot of sights in London, Paris, Rome, and Germany.

This is the best thread I've ever seen on this forum! Thank you for asking this question. I am a big fan of foreign and independent films so some of my favorites are a little offbeat. I'm off in a stream of consciousness... Yes, I agree that "Summertime" is a great way to visit Venice vicariously. Also another vote for "Enchanted April," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," and "A Room with a View." For English settings in particular, most of the Merchant-Ivory movies are wonderful, including "Howard's End" and "The Remains of the Day." And thinking of Anthony Hopkins who was in those reminds me of another wonderful film set in England, "Shadowlands," which is the true story of C.S. Lewis's (author of the classic Chronicles of Narnia books including "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe") marriage to an American woman played by Debra Winger. Set in Italy, "Cinema Paradiso" is one of my all-time favorite movies about a little boy growing up in a small town and working in a movie theater. Another one with excellent cinematography of the Italian countryside is "Stealing Beauty" with Jeremy Irons and Liv Tyler, about an American teenager's visit to Italy looking for romance and trying to find out who her father is. For scenes of Ireland I would rent "Into the West" which is also wonderful for kids to see (I also agree with the recommendation for "The Secret of Roan Inish.") This year's "Waking Ned Devine" and last year's "The Matchmaker" were also set in small towns in Ireland (yes, I loved "Circle of Friends" too). and have good scenery and some laughs. My favorite movie set in England is "Hope and Glory," much of which takes place in a suburb of London during WWII but then it moves to the countryside -- it's a lovely film, sad and funny and nostalgic for what it must have been like to be a child in England during that time. And if you didn't see A&E's version of "Pride and Prejudice" that came out a year or two ago with Colin Firth as Darcy you can rent it on video -- it's great. Not to mention other films of Austin's books which are also lovely -- "Persuasion" (largely set in Bath), "Emma" with Gwyneth Paltrow, and "Sense and Sensibility" with Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson. Set in Vienna, "Before Sunrise" is a nice little romance from 1995 with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy about two travellers who meet on a train and explore Vienna together all night. Speaking of a little romance, "A Little Romance" with Sir Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane is a wonderful story about an American girl living in Paris with her parents, who meets a Parisian boy and runs away with him to Venice. More good ones set in France: "The Last Metro" and "May Fools." Everyone's probably already seen it, but "An American in Paris" with Gene Kelly is loads of fun. Also, it's sort of all over the place and definitely not for everyone, but Woody Allen's recent movie "Everyone Says I Love You" is an offbeat musical with a particularly charming segment in which he and Goldie Hawn sing and dance along the Seine. Which reminds me of a totally different movie, "Damage," in which Jeremy Irons has an illicit affair with Juliette Binoche with some very racy scenes in Paris (this is not a movie for kids). One of the most beautiful films I've seen in recent years is "After the Rain" which is set in Macedonia -- yes I realize this is not exactly a top tourist destination right now but the scenery in this movie is almost enough to make you want to go there. For Spain, there is a funny Whit Stillman film called "Barcelona." Also a good bit of the latter half of the film "An Angel at My Table" is set in Spain (directed by Jane Campion, who also did "The Piano" -- it's the true story of the author Janet Frame and very well done although overlong). Oh yes, largely set in Prague (and definitely for adults only) is "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" with Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche. "Europa, Europa" is an excellent film (and a true story) set in Germany, Poland and Russia during WWII about a Jewish teenager separated from his family who survives by posing as a Nazi. OK, I've gone on too long, so I'll stop now. I hope someone likes at least one of these recommendations (I've listed so many that lots of you are bound to dislike some of them, too.) But with regard to your second question about trusting strangers, as my own darling mother told me once, "Open your heart, but lock your doors!" I think it's good to be open to new people and experiences, but you have to be smart about it.

As I was watching "Frantic" last Sunday I thought of the Fodor's forum. I was watching it, for the second time, just to see some of Paris. It's not the best see Paris movie but it will make you double check that you grabbed the correct suitcase at the airport. To get one in the Paris frame of mind, I recommend Moulin Rouge, very atmospheric, and Gigi and An American in Paris. I also like Funny Face (Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn). The movies sort of make me feel like I'm back in Paris. Perhaps I just have a vivid imagination. Also the Robert Altman movie about fashion, the name escapes me has some beautiful Paris background.