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Paris: Top 7 stations for your favourite films and series
Stations in Paris!
Watch out, Paris is a surprising city. Whether you get there by car or by train, it’s impossible to miss the Parisian train stations, just as it’s impossible to miss the Paris guide of the 1000 cult places of films, series, music, comics and novels.
Gare d’Orsay
In Un long dimanche de fiançailles, in order to obtain additional information about the disappearance of Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), Mathilde calls Günther’s sister (Elina Löwensohn), the German killed in the trenches, from the Orsay train station. Today it houses a museum devoted to Western art from 1848 to 1914. The film crew was able to move in one day when the facility was closed to the public. In reality, the Orsay station has never hosted steam trains as imposing as those seen in the film, but only small ones to transit to the Austerlitz station.
In order to blend in as well as possible with this posh neighbourhood, the architect of the Gare d’Orsay station, Victor Laloux, hid the metal structure behind a more classical stone façade, which did not swear with the Louvre and the Legion of Honour Palace. Inaugurated on 14 July 1900 for the Universal Exhibition, which became an empty shell with the end of suburban traffic in 1958, the station was threatened with demolition, before being saved by Valery Giscard d’Estaing and transformed into a museum. The underground lines were reopened in 1979 and the Gare d’Orsay station is now an RER C station.
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Gare du Nord
In Once Upon a Time in America, New York to Paris? The scenes of Deborah’s (Elizabeth McGovern) check-in and departure for Hollywood were filmed at the Gare du Nord station. This one was dressed by the production to look like Grand Central Terminal in New York. But the decorators made two small omissions visible in the film. When the young woman’s train departs, the SNCF logo appears clearly on the last car left on the platform, on the right. In addition, the “Track 13” sign also overlooks the train at the stop. Shooting lasted much longer than expected, thus exploding the initial budget. In the end, the film cost $30 million.
The Gare du Nord is a certain idea of immoderation. With its 700,000 passengers and more than 2,000 daily trains, it is, excluding Japan, the world’s leading station in terms of traffic (262 million passengers in 2015), from which high-speed trains (TGV, Eurostar and Thalys), mainline trains (Intercités), TER Hauts-de-France, Transilien, RER and metro depart and arrive. Opened in 1846, the station was rebuilt in 1861 in a modern neoclassical style; its façade is decorated with twenty-three statues commissioned from thirteen famous sculptors of the time, representing the main cities served by the company.
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Gare de l’Est
In Zazie dans le métro, who came to discover Paris, and in particular the metro that fascinates her, Zazie (Catherine Demongeot) arrives by train in this station where she is awaited by her uncle Gabriel (Philippe Noiret). But there’s no subway on the schedule. He’s taking the girl to the Turandot Café by taxi.
Famous for having been the starting point, in 1883, of the first Orient-Express to Constantinople, the Eastern Station is today twinned with that of Moscow. In addition to the main lines serving Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine, Alsace and European countries, Paris Est also provides access to the inner suburbs via the Transilien network. Built from 1847, inaugurated with pomp and circumstance in 1850 by Emperor Napoleon III, it will be doubled between 1924 and 1931 and refurbished in 2007 to accommodate the TGV East.
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Austerlitz train station
In Les Cinq dernières minutes, upon his arrival by train, Gaston Luriecq, the father-in-law of the man murdered in episode 32, is immediately summoned to the police station. Opened in 1840, the station was rebuilt between 1862 and 1867, when it was equipped with its large metal hall with a span of 51.25 m by 280 m. During the siege of Paris in 1870, this vast space was used to manufacture gas balloons: 164 passengers, 381 pigeons, 5 dogs and 2 to 3 million letters left the capital in this way.
At Patrice Chéreau’s, Those who love me will take the train from Austerlitz station to Limoges for the funeral of the painter Jean-Baptiste Emmerich (played by Jean-Louis Trintignant). Inaugurated in 1840 and rebuilt in 1867, the former Orléans station also serves the south of the Ile-de-France, Orléans and Berry.
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Gare de Lyon
In The Tourist, on Alexander’s instructions, Elise (Angelina Jolie) goes to the Gare de Lyon to catch the 8:32 am train.
Almost entirely ravaged by fire during the Paris Commune in 1871, the Gare de Lyon, which had been put into service sixteen years earlier, was rebuilt identically, before undergoing a new facelift for the 1900 Universal Exhibition and being endowed with a splendid façade and a 67 m high clock tower. The architect Marius Toudoire was also in charge of building a luxurious sideboard in the centre. This Second Empire-style restaurant was renamed Le Train Bleu in 1963, in honour of Paris-Vintimille.
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Montparnasse Station
In La Tour Montparnasse Infernale, the Montparnasse train station, which is opposite the Montparnasse Tower, is also the focus of the film. First, she sees the main protagonists of the story: Mr. Lanceval, CEO of the Lanceval group and his sons, then the members of the commando … Ended up with its facade destroyed by a helicopter.
The infernal Montparnasse train station? Opened in 1840, it has had an eventful history, being rebuilt and even moved several times (1852 and 1969). It is also known for the accident that occurred on October 22, 1895, when the Granville-Paris crossed the great glass roof due to defective brakes and finished its crazy race ten meters below the tramway station! Serving the West of France, the station is topped, since 1994, by the Atlantic Garden.
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Châtelet-les-Halles
In Subway, the thief played by Jean-Hugues Anglade is equipped with roller skates allowing him to leave the scene of his misdeeds very quickly.
Connected to three RER lines and five metro lines, the labyrinthine Châtelet – Les Halles, opened in 1977, is the largest underground station in the world with 1,500 trains a day and an average of 750,000 passengers a day!
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By Anthony Thibault
From the "Casimir generation", Anthony has kept (in addition to a passion for Goldorak) a taste for inventive images, experimentation and curiosity. Passionate about travel and pop culture, he co-founded Fantrippers with Nicolas Albert to share his passion with as many people as possible.