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The Travel Book Shop
“Happiness isn’t happiness without a violin-playing goat.”
Anna Scott (Julia Roberts)
When filming begins, director Roger Michell fears that the arrival of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts on Portobello Road will cause a riot. Nevertheless, the security service works miracles and everything goes on as planned.
Cult! movies: 100 mythical places of cinema [French Edition]
Want to know more about this location and its connection to Notting Hill? Find the whole story and 99 others in the book Cult! cinema!
The bookstore run by William Thacker, Hugh Grant’s character, becomes the epicenter of the production. While the team takes up residence in a store that they have to make up as a bookstore, the inspiration for the project comes from a real bookstore, based around the corner. The store in question, called The Travel Book Shop, refused the presence of the cameras, so Roger Michell had to content himself with reproducing the decor in another room.
The shop closed in 2011, following the increase in rents in this very popular area. The owners have moved to 13 Blenheim Crescent. Fun fact: the travel book section is still called The Travel Book Shop.
The first version of the film lasted 210 minutes. Almost 90 minutes were thus cut off.
The Travel Bookshop
The Travel Book Shop is not really a bookstore but a souvenir store. Even if the sign might suggest otherwise.
When director Roger Michell sets up his cameras in the little store at 142 Portobello Road, it is occupied by a store called Nicholls Antique Arcade. Later, the Gong sign sold furniture and eventually gave way to the souvenir shop. However, the owners decided to capitalize on the success of Notting Hill by putting the sign from the movie above their store. The perfect place to buy trinkets and other objects with the image of London.
The Fantrippers Buying Board
London's guide to the 1000 cult locations for films, series, music, comics and novels
Are you going to LONDON?
Are you fans of series, movies, comics, music, novels?
This guide is for you!
Harry Potter, James Bond, Bridget Jones, The Persuaders!, Black Mirror, The Crown, Dr Who, Mister Bean, Monty Python, Sherlock Holmes, Blake and Mortimer, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Who, Amy Winehouse, Dracula, Oliver Twist…
With more than 1000 cult locations for movies, TV series, music, comics, novels, the London Fantrippers Guide offers an unusual and unique travel experience through more than 1000 places of cult fiction specially selected for you.
It’s the bible of pop culture in the British capital!
With its three ways of consulting, discover London:
- by neighborhoods by immediately visualizing the right addresses around you
- by themes (bars, restaurants, shopping, gluttony, culture …) for a tailor-made outing according to your desires
- by works (cinema, TV series, music, comics, novels) to find the places of your favorite heroes and heroines.
After New York and Paris, this third book in the collection is enriched by a new model, a revised pagination (640 pages) and for the first time original film journeys (Harry Potter, James Bond, Alfred Hitchcock, romantic comedies, superheroes), series (God save the Queen, detective series, humor series, Dr Who), music (The Beatles, the Britpop, Icones 60-70 , pop, punk), comics (Blake and Mortimer, From Hell, superhero), Victorian London, thriller, Jack The Ripper, Sherlock Holmes.
Content quality
Interest for fans
Value for money
Discover all the places Notting Hill on our map
By Gilles Rolland
Passionné de cinéma, de rock and roll, de séries TV et de littérature. Rédacteur de presse et auteur des livres Le Heavy Metal au cinéma, Paroles de fans Guns N' Roses, Paroles de fans Rammstein et Welcome to my Jungle : 100 albums rock et autres anecdotes dépareillées. Adore également voyager à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture.