Gossip Girl, Killing Eve, Modern Family: these 6 Paris walks take you to the filming locations of your cult series
Paris didn’t wait for streaming platforms to become a star of the small screen. From Paris tours in the footsteps of your favorite TV series, from Gossip Girl to Sense8, via Killing Eve, Dynasty, Modern Family and The Good Place. Six concrete itineraries, neighborhood by neighborhood, to experience the capital differently.
Gossip Girl and Killing Eve: the Marais, Saint-Germain and the quays of the Seine
In Gossip Girl, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) settle in Paris for the summer. Their first stop was in the Marais district, at Café Louis-Philippe and bistro Chez Julien on rue des Barres. From there, they went their separate ways: Blair to the Musée d’Orsay, where she met Prince Louis Grimaldi (Hugo Becker) in front of the painting “Déjeuner sur l’herbe” by Edouard Manet (1832-1883), and Serena to Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Galeries Lafayette and Printemps on boulevard Haussmann.
The walk continues along rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, through the passage Saint-Roch, and on to square Louvois. It’s in this square’s fountain that Blair pushes Serena after their dinner at the Cristal Room. So, every street corner tells the story of a scene from the series. Further south, in the 12th arrondissement, Chuck Bass frequents the bar Le Baron Rouge, right next to the Beauvau covered market and the Aligre flea market. The most emblematic scene, however, takes place at the Gare du Nord, near the Eurostar entrance: Blair, in a red Oscar de la Renta ball gown, catches up with Chuck on a footbridge overlooking the rails.
For Killing Eve, the discovery begins in the 6th arrondissement. Villanelle (Jodie Comer) wanders rue de Seine and rue de l’Echaudé from the very first minutes of the series. The bistro Le Balto, seen in the first episode, stands at the junction of rue Mazarine and rue Guénégaud. From here, you can also see the dome of the Institut de France, the former Collège des Quatre-Nations founded between 1662 and 1688.
“Paris is a party to be enjoyed.” – Blair Waldorf, Gossip Girl
From Canal Saint-Martin to Place Vendôme with Killing Eve
Villanelle’s building is, however, on the right bank: 16 rue de Lancry in the 10th arrondissement. The inner courtyard is closed to the public, but a few steps further on, the Wauxhall housing estate – a small cobbled street – appears at the start of season 2. We then join the Canal Saint-Martin, bustling with street art and café terraces, before walking along the Quai de Valmy to the Gare de l’Est.
In the first episode of season 2, the Gare de l’Est is used as a backdrop, even though the action is supposed to take place at the Gare du Nord. We see the large glass roof and the fresco by Albert Herter (1871-1950), entitled “Le Départ des poilus, août 1914” (“The Departure of the Poilus, August 1914”). The walk ends at Place Vendôme, where Villanelle wears her pink dress by Molly Goddard, then at the Palais-Royal gardens, where she shares an ice cream by the fountain with Sebastian.
- Café Louis-Philippe and bistro Chez Julien, rue des Barres (Marais) – filming locations for Gossip Girl and Modern Family
- Musée d’Orsay – Blair Waldorf meets Prince Louis Grimaldi in Gossip Girl
- Le Baron Rouge, 12th arrondissement – Chuck Bass’ café in Gossip Girl
- 16 rue de Lancry, 10th arrondissement – Villanelle building in Killing Eve
- Place Vendôme and Palais-Royal gardens – iconic scenes from Killing Eve
Dynasty and Modern Family: Champs-Élysées, Marais and banks of the Seine
Dynasty’s Carrington family begins its Parisian journey on the Champs-Élysées, in the 8th arrondissement. TheHôtel d’Espeyran, also known as the Hôtel Marcel Dassault, at number 7 avenue Montaigne, embodies the American embassy in the series. The Franklin D. Roosevelt metro station is directly opposite. Further on, at 244 rue de Rivoli, the Carrington family’s private building overlooks the Tuileries Gardens, the Jeu de Paume and the Eiffel Tower.
Gourmet breaks are a must at the Angelina tea room or Café Marly, in the Cour Napoléon, overlooking the Louvre Pyramid. Fallon (Elizabeth Gillies) and Sammy Jo (Rafael de la Fuente) share a glass of wine there in the series. Then it’s on to the Port de Montebello, between the Quai de l’Archevêché and the Pont de la Tournelle, to enjoy the booksellers and the view of Notre-Dame. In addition, two unusual sites complete this Dynasty tour: the cloister of theAbbey of Port-Royal, founded in 1626 and integrated into the Cochin hospital, and the Château de Villette, built between 1663 and 1669 by François Mansart and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, at Condécourt in the Val d’Oise.
Modern Family installs the Pritchett family at theCrowne Plaza Hotel, Place de la République in the 10th arrondissement. Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) dines at the bistro Chez Julien, in its Belle Époque decor listed as a historic monument. A few streets away, Claire and Phil Dunphy (Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell) visit the Musée de la magie – Musée des automates, a unique venue in the Marais district.
From Île Saint-Louis to Les Invalides with Modern Family
We cross the Pont Louis Philippe or the Pont Marie to reach theÎle Saint-Louis for a break on the terrace of the Brasserie de l’Isle Saint-Louis, the very spot where Claire and Guy (Arnaud Binard) met thirty years earlier in the series. The Quai de la Tournelle then offers a breathtaking view of Notre-Dame de Paris. We walk up the banks of the Seine to theHôtel National des Invalides, where Gloria, Manny and Jay (Sofia Vergara, Rico Rodriguez and Ed O’Neill) stop, and which houses the Musée de l’Armée, the Eglise du Dôme and the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Pritchett family’s stay in Paris comes to an end at L’Oiseau Blanc, the Michelin-starred restaurant of The Peninsula Paris. Under the glass roof of the rooftop, the family enjoys a view of the Eiffel Tower. It’s one of the most delightful moments of these Parisian walks in the footsteps of the series.
The Good Place and Sense8: Montmartre, the Je T’Aime Wall and the Eiffel Tower
The Good Place begins its tour at Les Deux Magots, a legendary café and restaurant in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Here, Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper) explains that he has sat at every table to take the place of Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Richard Wright, Brecht and James Baldwin. We then move on to the Pont des Arts, where Chidi tells Eleanor (Kristen Bell) he’s ready to leave, in an emotionally-charged scene. From there, it’s on to the Louvre Museum and the Tuileries Gardens.
The walk then climbs to the 18th arrondissement, Montmartre. Chidi wanders nostalgically through Place du Tertre and Rue de l’Abreuvoir. A few streets further on are Dalida’s former home on rue d’Orchamp, and Picasso’s studio on rue Gabrielle. As a result, these Paris strolls in the footsteps of The Good Place are a natural fit with the artistic soul of the Butte. The walk ends at the foot of the Sacré-Coeur basilica, whose observatory offers a panoramic view of the whole capital.
Sense8 also shoots mainly in Montmartre. The sensitives’ apartment is at 4 rue Androuet, on the corner of the Marché de la Butte, made famous by the film Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. The Abbesses metro station is the setting for several scenes, as is the Place des Abbesses and its carousel. In Square Jehan Rictus, the Je T’Aime Wall displays “Je t’aime” in over 250 languages, more than 1,000 times.
Arts et Métiers station, on line 11, offers an unusual setting: its walls are covered in copper and decorated with portholes, reminiscent of the interior of a submarine. Elements were installed to mark the bicentenary of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in 1994. This is where Will confronts a mysterious stranger in the series. The walk continues on the Marais side, towards theInstitut du Monde Arabe, founded in 1987 in the 5th arrondissement by architect Jean Nouvel, whose moucharabieh facade appears when Riley (Tuppence Middleton) and River El-Saadawi (Amira Ghazalla) meet. These strolls through Paris conclude in the most beautiful way: on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, where Nomi (Jamie Clayton) and Amanita (Freema Agyeman) celebrate their wedding in the final episode of Sense8, before a fireworks display visible from the Trocadero. If you’re not married there, you can climb the 347 steps to the second floor to enjoy the view over the whole city.
