France is making its cinema: 10 mythical shooting places

Let's remember that the Light Brothers were Lyonnais… so it's a historic link linking this territory to the cinema. The alpine landscapes have served as a backdrop to many films with resounding success: A swallow did the spring with Michel Serrault, Painting or making love to the Larrieu brothers, but especially the famous Belle and Sébastien of 2015, true ode to the landscapes of Haute Maurienne Vanoise, in Savoy.

Burgundy/Franche Comté is particularly appreciated by the great Claude Lelouch. His new film, each of his life and his intimate conviction, was shot in Beaune. It is here that the director chose to implement his film school. Finally, let us remember his adaptation of the Miserable Tours in the Jura Mountains. A beautiful projector on the region! 

From Cartouches to Native, through the famous O History, we no longer count the films that were turned into Languedoc-Roussillon. In 1976, in the Man who loved women, François Truffaut paid a heartfelt tribute to Montpellier by even claiming that we would meet the most beautiful women of France! Since then, the department has also become a land of election for the French series such as Candice Renoir or Crimes and Botanical. 

Regarded as the most beautiful royal place in Europe, the place Stanislas de Nancy inspired many directors like Philippe Claudel in a long time that I love you. But Lorraine, rich in its industrial and mining heritage, offers other possibilities for decorations. The film Les Rivers Pourpres 2 was largely turned into the former mining basin north of the department.

Aquitaine and its long sandy beaches, but especially the practice of surfing or windsurfing, attract many visitors every year. From the North Médoc to the Arcachon Basin, it's 126 km of coastline that awaits you at the edge of the ocean to challenge the wave. And Brice de Nice understood this well! Here, on the beaches of Medoc and Bordeaux, the third opus of the trilogy was turned.

The Meeting, a small jewel in the heart of the Indian Ocean, is a real paradise for film directors, series or even documentaries! Recognized by UNESCO's world heritage, the island offers a diversity of unique landscapes in the world. Several national productions have been toured, the case of Made in America, Papa or Mother 2 or a wonderful family. 

For a medieval film décor, nothing better than Picardie and especially Pierrefonds! Its true castle with niches and caulifbridges fascinates small and large! He served as a backdrop to the Merlin series, but also, above all, to the mythical film by Jean-Marie Poiré: The Visitors. And walking on Jacquouille's tracks, it doesn't have a price! 

Authentic, wild and well-known, Corsica is the ideal place to turn a film. Recently Fabrice Begotti, for his comedy Les Francis, highlighted the beauty of these island landscapes. The emphasis is on the mountain with the Alta Rocca region and Quenza village, located at 1,400 m altitude. We also see Fozzano and his fortified houses, witnesses to a warrior past. This is where the true Colomba de Mérimée lived.

Deauville and his American film festival are now part of the agenda of all major producers. But the tender relationship between this Norman seaside city and the 7 th art begins in 1965 when Claude Lelouch turns a man, a woman. This film, rewarded by two Oscars, has forever marked French city and cinema. Still today, the myth continues as the Hotel Normandy offers a suite of 58 m 2 entirely dedicated to the film. And if you don't, take a tour of Cherbourg in tribute to Jacques Demy! 

Nord-Pas-de-Calais, of course, is welcome in the ch 'tis, but not only! The landscapes of this region have attracted many directors for films often tinted with history. This is the case of Geral de Claude Berri, masterpiece of French cinema. Adapted from Emile Zola's novel, this film was shot in the mining site of Arenberg. 25 years later, the scene of the shooting has become a university research laboratory in audiovisual and hosts all year filming. The Nord-Pas-de-Calais? A real Cinecittà!