Emily in Paris filming locations
Have you seen the Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris’ yet? I came across series 1 recently and binged it… I even got Mr T hooked (whoops, did I say that out loud?). It might not be everyone’s cup of tea. And Emily’s American accent when trying to speak French even makes me cringe (and believe me, mine most certainly isn’t anything to be proud of when stumbling three words of French). But it provides some light-hearted entertainment that was just what I needed. And features so many Parisian corners, that helped calm my wanderlust (temporarily). Whilst at the same time making me miss Paris so much more. To tie me over until my next Paris trip (or until season two is released), I decided to put together a little Emily in Paris filming locations tour. For us all to check out, next time we make it to Paris in person.
Not sure if you’d like to attempt this Emily in Paris filming locations tour in high heels à la Emily. But from personal experience, high heels paired with cobbled Paris streets are rarely a good idea. I’d recommend something a little more comfy (keep the heels in the bag for when you head to one of those pretty dinner spots).
To make exploring a little easier, I have grouped the Emily in Paris filming locations. Saving us all from running around like headless chicken, only to end five steps from where we started.
Emily in Paris Filming Locations Part One: Where Emily lives
I really like that the producers managed to come up with locations that are where they pretend to be in the series. Emily’s apartment, Gabriel’s restaurant, the bakery, the café where Emily and Mindy order breakfast… they are all located around the same square: Place de l’Estrapade in the Latin Quarter. Just as they appear to be in the series. Only the flower shop isn’t real. But hey, that’s a small thing compared to some others we’ve seen on telly or in movies (like discovering that Fox Books is the other side of Manhattan when putting together my ‘You’ve got Mail’ movie locations tour).
Emily’s Apartment (1 Place de l’Estrapade)
Who wouldn’t love an apartment overlooking the Paris skyline? OK, the whole fifth floor (or sixth floor, if you are American) without lift thing might be a bit of a bummer, but a small price to pay for that view. And knowing a little about Paris rent prices, I would say that is the only small price to pay here. Even though the apartment seems to be a tiny one bed, I am quite certain it would cost you quite a bit to rent.
Unfortunately, we can’t really go and visit the actual apartment. And spoiler alert, the fifth-floor apartment isn’t actually one of the Emily in Paris filming locations. Whilst the outside was used for filming, the apartment itself was filmed in a studio (I mean, how on earth could you squeeze all those cameras and equipment into a small Parisian apartment… let alone schlepp it all up five flights of stairs).
We overhear Emily say ‘dinner is in the 5th tonight’ when she takes clients and colleagues to Gabriel’s restaurant. So, we kind of know her apartment is also in the 5th. And it has a gorgeous tree lined square in front and loads of cute cafes, and bakeries on its doorstep.
The actual address of Emily’s apartment is 1 Place de l’Estrapade, in the Latin Quarter south of the river.
From here, it is just a few paces to the next Emily in Paris filming location:
Gabriel’s Restaurant
In the series it is called ‘LES DEUX COMPÈRES’ (which is clearly visible on the awnings a couple of times). The restaurant exists in real life (and in the same location it pretends to be, just the other side of the square). But it is actually called ‘Ristorante Terra Nera’ and is an Italian bistro.
La Boulangerie Moderne (the modern bakery)
The cute bakery where Emily buys her first ‘Pain au Chocolat’ (remember it is un, not une) and gets a little French lesson along the way is also a real location in Paris and it happens to be just two doors down from ‘Ristorante Terra Nera’ aka Gabriel’s restaurant on Rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques.
Continue down the road and we will shortly arrive at our next stop:
Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens)
This is one of the Emily in Paris filming locations that we see when Emily goes for a run in the morning. It is the beautiful park she runs through in episode two, where she takes a photo of one of the statues and tags it with ‘chiselled abs’ (not quite sure this hashtag would really go viral on Instagram, but hey). If you are thinking of going there for an early morning run (or a stroll later in the evening), check the opening hours first. Depending on season, a lot of the Parisian parks open rather late and close fairly early. I know from personal experience. I walked to Jardin du Luxembourg after work one evening, only to discover that it had closed at 5.30 already and I had wasted a journey (well maybe not wasted, the surrounding area is quite nice and worth a trip anyway).
Once you’ve seen enough of Jardin du Luxembourg, we’ll backtrack a little (I know, I promised we wouldn’t, so we will just head down another road, to vary the route a little). Next up on our list is
Panthéon
Very close to Emily’s apartment, the Panthéon appears a few times in the background. Most notable as the backdrop for that phone call Emily has with her Chicago boyfriend where she finds out he is not coming to Paris and subsequently breaks up with him.
On to the next (and last) stop on our Emily in Paris filming locations tour part one. Head towards the Seine and cross it via the Pont de l’Archevêché and the Pont Saint-Louis.
Le Flore en l’Île
A nice little spot overlooking the Seine, on the Île Saint-Louis (so, if your feet already hurt in those high heels, maybe this is the perfect spot for a little rest). This is the restaurant where Emily bumps into Luc in the first episode and gets a little insight into the French way of life and thinking.
OK, so this was Part One of our Emily in Paris filming locations tour.
This first part was just over 2km (around a mile and a half) and should have taken little over half an hour, not including any wanderings through Jardin du Luxembourg. These would be on top.
Ready to continue?
Emily in Paris filming locations Part Two: Where Emily works
For Part two, we start at Place the Valois. You can either walk here, but this would add another two kilometres to the tour. Alternatively, take Metro 7 from Pont Marie to Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre.
Savoir (Emily’s work)
Savoir, the luxury marketing company that Emily works for in Paris is next door to the Galerie Patrick Fourtin. Which is a real-life location on Place de Valois (near Louvre).
On and around Place de Valois you will also find a couple of restaurants and cafes, that frequently feature in the series, when Emily’s colleagues go for their lunch breaks.
From here we continue to Emily’s favourite lunch spot:
Emily in Paris filming locations: Jardin du Palais Royale (Garden of the Royal Palace)
A beautiful garden in easy walking distance from Emily’s work place on Place de Valois and the place where Emily meets Mindy for the first time. It is also here, where Mindy gives her impromptu performance of ‘La Vie en Rose’.
The fountain is easy to spot in the middle of the garden.
To get to the next stop on our Emily in Paris filming locations tour, we walk the length of Jardin du Palais Royale and exit at the other end.
Le Grand Véfour
This well sought-after Michelin starred restaurant (run by chef Guy Martin) is where Emily manages to make a reservation for dinner, only to then realise that she messed up the dates. Instead of making a reservation for the 11th August, she accidentally reserves a table for the 8th November. Not knowing that 08/11/ in Europe means something different than in the US.
I don’t know about you, but chances are my travel budget doesn’t quite stretch to a dinner here (unless it was a very special occasion, and knowing Mr T, chances are we wouldn’t be in Paris if it was). So, for now I will be contempt with just seeing the outside of the restaurant before continuing to our next stop.
Palais Garnier
This stunning opera building is probably best known for being the setting of the ‘Phantom of the Opera’. In the episode ‘Ringarde’ Emily visits the opera to see Swan Lake and to apologise to a designer, she managed to offend by her sheer presence earlier in the week.
I have yet to actually visit the opera house myself (very high on my bucket list for one of my next Paris trips), but the exterior is a familiar sight for me, as I was working literally next door during my Paris project in 2019/2020.
The next stop on our Emily in Paris movie locations tour is a bit of a walk, so I’ll let you decide if you’d rather save your energy and hail a cab or take the Metro (you can take line 8 from Opera to Invalides).
Pont Alexandre III (Bridge of Alexander 3rd)
Probably the most picturesque bridge to span the Seine, Pont Alexandre III is the setting for the perfume advert shoot Savoir does in episode 3 ‘Sexy or sexist’ for their perfume client De L’Heure.
We’ve reached the end of part two of our little Emily in Paris filming locations tour. If you decided to walk all the way to Pont Alexandre III, part two would have been approx. 3.5km (just over 2 miles) and taken around 45 minutes to an hour.
Emily in Paris filming locations part three: Emily and Mindy’s night out
Do you remember when Emily is asked by her boss to delete her Instagram account and she and Mindy decide to have one last big insta story, before saying ‘Au Revoir’ to her account?
The locations in part three all have to do with that evening. They also all happen to be in Montmartre, which is a very pretty area in Paris and worth a visit, even if you aren’t really into Emily in Paris.
Moulin Rouge
We will start part three at the Moulin Rouge. Easiest way to get there from Pont Alexandre III (if you do part three directly after part two) is by taking the Metro line 13 from Invalides to Place the Clichy, then walk the last bit.
The Moulin Rouge can be seen in the background when Emily and Mindy dance the Cancan in front of it (I mean, obviously the Cancan, what else would you associate with the Moulin Rouge).
Sleep under the Stars Campaign
At first, Emily visits this place during her night out with Mindy and this is where they take that final photo before de-activating her Instagram account.
Her client for a bed company is so impressed with the location that this becomes the setting for their ‘Sleep under the Stars’ campaign (a slightly bonkers marketing idea Emily pitched to the client before and then failed at first to actually pull it off).
The location where Emily sets up the bed (and takes that first photo for her freshly re-activated account) is Place Dalida, at the intersection of rue Girardon and rue de l’Abreuvoir.
Restaurant La Maison Rose
Just down the road from Place Dalida is La Maison Rose. One of the most instagrammed facades in Paris, La Maison Rose is the restaurant Emily and Mindy start their night out and where Emily makes the decision to (temporarily) delete her Emily in Paris Instagram account. Even if you decide not to have drinks or dinner there, La Maison Rose shouldn’t miss on any Paris walking tour.
Basilica Sacre Coeur
From La Maison Rose, we will continue to Sacre Coeur. You can see Emily and Mindy dance and fool around in front of the cathedral. It also happens to give you a stunning view over Paris, thanks to its elevated location above the city.
We’ve come to the end of our Emily in Paris filming locations tour part three. This was a rather short one, with just 1.5km. But also the one with the most elevation, so I do apologise if it hurt. In hindsight, maybe we should have walked this one back to front, to walk downhill rather than uphill. Well, feel free to change direction when you embark on your little Emily in Paris adventure.
There are plenty more Paris locations that feature in the series, that I did not include in my walking tour. Like the Canal Saint Martin or the Eiffel Tower. But at the end of the day, I guess you won’t just come to Paris to see the Emily in Paris filming locations. And I can’t see anyone visiting Paris without a trip to the Eiffel Tower. So, I am sure you will see it, even if I didn’t include it in my tour.
