From the indie movie that expertly portrays a steamy rendezvous to the album that defines ’60s French pop, here’s some of the best pop culture to consume before you go to Paris.
One of the good means to generate hullabaloo for an upcoming trip is to work your way throughart inspired by the destination in question . It ’s one thing to click through stock imagery on Google Images , but entirely another to watch an old celluloid and see snapshots of what a metropolis was like before globalisation , to trace the stride of writer who ’ve made the same pilgrimage , to hear the medicine you ’ll be dancing to on nights out .
When it comes toParis , you could spend years consumingeverything set in the metropolis . But the idea here is to get you feeling somejoie de vivre , to tap into the mystique that has driven artists to those fantastic boulevard for centuries . From the indie flick that like an expert portrays a sticky rendezvous to the album that defines ’ 60s French pappa , here ’s what to mark off out if you ’ve already binged all three seasons ofEmily in Paris .
Watch
You could really make a marathon out of movies and boob tube express that pay tribute to the City of Lights . There are the honest-to-goodness school classic ( An American in Paris , Breathless ) ; your try - and - rightful rewatches ( Amélie , Ratatouille , Before Sunset ) ; and those select episodes of your preferent guilty pleasure series ( Gossip Girl , Sex and the City ) . Below , however , are a few picks that might have slipped through the swarm crack .
Diva(1981)
DirectorJean - Jacques Beineixgives us so much in this 1981 film set up in Paris : the juxtaposition of a glamorous opera scene and a criminal underworld ; a moped - accelerated police following through the subway system ; and , in the film ’s most sensational scene , a romantic saunter through the Jardin du Tuileries at dawn . To sum up the plot of ground , this is a moving-picture show about a base letter carrier who is enamour with an opera Isaac Merrit Singer , commemorate her part against her regard , and then happen himself tangle in rabble drama . It ’s playful , colourful , and ’ 80s — oh la Pelican State .
The Eddy(2020)
This concealed gem of a Netflix series follow a former New York City malarky musician ( André Holland ) after he move to Paris to consort his own social club , The Eddy , after the expiry of his boy . As he skin to protect his business , his ring , and his teen daughter ( Amandla Stenberg ) following the slaying of his best friend , we get to see a farinaceous side to Paris . And if the thrill of a criminal offense drama was n’t enough reason to watch this eight - sequence series , you should know that jazz aficionado and manager ofLa La Land , Damien Chazelle directs the first two sequence .
One Fine Morning(2023)
InOne Fine Morning , Mia Hansen - Løve manages to paint the sort of sunlight - drench , green - filled Paris we ’re so used to see , but in a way that feels last - in . And as is the case with most French art , the story is devastatingly beautiful . Single female parent Sandra ( Léa Seydoux ) grappling iron with the neurodegenerative disease that has taken over her father ’s philosophic mind and , in the process , run into an old ally whom she has a steamy affair with ( spoiler alert : he ’s married ) . It ends with a touching scene on the Montmartre .
Read
So your trip to Paris is imminent , and you do n’t have time to dive into every volume of Balzac’sLa Comédie humaineor Marcel Proust’sIn Search of Lost Time . Or , if you ’ve make plenty of fourth dimension and only do n’t want to , we do n’t blame you . Here ’s what to front for at the airport bookstore .
A Moveable Feastby Ernest Hemingway (1964)
The record that inspired Woody Allen’sMidnight in Paris , A Moveable Feast , is like an previous - fashioned travel guide . Hemingway drop a line about his experience as an expatriate in 1920s Paris , calling out some preferred haunts , like Café Closerie des Lilas , Les Deux Magots , and Gertrude Stein ’s flat , of trend . you may pass by it at 27 Rue de Fleurus on your way to another Hemingway favourite , the Luxembourg Gardens .
Giovanni’s Roomby James Baldwin (1956)
Because you’re able to never have enough “ American in Paris ” narratives , James Baldwin , who lived in Paris for nine yr , tell the story of David , an American who jaunt to the City of Love and begins an affair with an Italian serviceman refer Giovanni . The novel is an risky venture through the city after darkness in the 1950s . It explore themes of desire , gayness , social isolation , and maleness .
The Margot Affairby Sanaë Lemoine (2020)
Told from the perspective of a 17 - class - erstwhile who is the girl of a longstanding affair between a French culture minister and a notable level actress , The Margot Affairis a come - of - age brimming with scandal . Lemoine , who is also a cookbook author , fill the pages with celestial food descriptions that ’ll move you to regulate a clafoutis the minute you step foot in Paris .
Listen
There ’s one famous song you ’ll inevitably hear emanating from some dinky radio set on the banks of the Seine : Edith Piaf’sLa Vie en Rose . But if you want to expand your sound subroutine library — or stay on top of what the Parisiennes are discussing at sidewalk cafes — mind to these running on your next commute .
The New Parispodcast
author and adopted Parisian Lindsey Tramuta , source ofThe New ParisandThe New Parissiene , keenly observes modern-day Paris . Whether you ’re interested in how the Olympics are shaping the city ’s base , the latest sustainable fashion brands , or the nation of vegan food , there ’s so much to learn before you go .
Françoise Hardy,Tous les garcons et les filles(1962)
Françoise Hardy became a symbol of the Yé - Yé ( Yeah ! Yeah ! ) papa movement in 1960s France , in which unseasoned female vocalists took to the sounds of English bands like the Beatles — think rock and bowl but chicer . Hardy was the ultimate it - girl , serving as a muse to designers like Yves Saint Laurent and inspire melodious legends like Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger . start up with her debut album , Tous les garcons et les filles , which she discharge when she was just 18 . In addition to the namesake cartroad , you ’ll probably discern “ Le temps de l’amour . ”
Daft Punk,Homework(1997)
There ’s no challenge the legacy Daft Punk left on the Gallic house movement . Wherever you are in the populace , you ’ve likely ended at least one company dancing to “ One More Time . ” Revisit where it all started with the duo ’s debut album , Homework , which they recorded in Paris in 1997 and , according toThe Village Voice , revive euro dance music . Further read : If you ’re interested in the rise of electronic euphony in Paris in the ’ 90s , stream another Mia Hansen - Løve gem , Eden(2014 ) . It boasts an excellent soundtrack .
Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist
