summary

Paris has one landmark that every film wants in the frame. The Eiffel Tower.

In episode two of Travel With Movies, Jeroen and Tanja go up, around and underneath it. Rush Hour 3 sends Jackie Chan down the tower. A View to a Kill delivers a parachute jump, a champagne-soaked success and a stuntman who jumped without permission and got fired on the spot. And Murder Mystery 2 earned a Guinness record. 

Afraid of heights? Tanja is. So they also visit three spots with a perfect view of the tower: Place du Trocadéro, Pont de Bir-Hakeim (hello, Inception) and the postcard corner from Emily in Paris.

Before Paris: Elsinore and a cottage on the Kent coast, Dan Brown’s next Robert Langdon, the Beatles on a Spanish “Miami Beach”, and Jeroen’s Dutch Podcast Awards nomination.

The classic: Westminster Abbey. The Da Vinci Code was filmed everywhere except inside. And a film set that Jeroen stumbled onto in Budapest, with a stunt that didn’t go right the first time.

You're listening to a, podcast where films and amazing locations meet. My name is Tanja van Rooden.

And my name is Jeroen Huijsdens. And this is Travel with Movies.

Hi, Jeroen.

Hello, Tanja.

Back again.

Our, second episode, our second adventure.

Yes, and today we're going on an adventure adventure to Paris and the City of Lights and the City of Love and the capital of France. And we're going to talk about the Eiffel Tower in particular, an iconic landmark that I, believe everybody knows. Even if you've never been to Paris, you recognize it. And, we've seen it in movies like View to a Kill, A Man in Black International, but also in series like Emily in Paris, and Soon. We can also see it in the new season of Lupe.

Yeah, I'm looking really forward to that. Yeah. And if you want to know more about, the stunts Jackie Chan did on the Eiffel Tower, or do you, if you want to know more about how they practice the jump off the tower for the James Bond movie A View to a Kill, stay with us. But before we go to Paris, Tanya, what caught your attention the past few weeks?

Whoa. Yeah, a lot of things. But one of the things that stayed with me the most maybe is, the trailer of Elsinore.

Yes, I saw it as well.

I think it's going to be an amazing movie. But for everyone who hasn't seen it yet, the movie tells the true story of ian Charleson. He's 38 years old, and he's preparing to give the performance of his life as Hamlet at the National Theatre in London back in 1988. What the public didn't know was that Charlson was living with aids, or actually, I should say, dying of aids. And the movie stars Andrew Scott. He plays Charleston alongside Olivia Colman as his doctor. And the casting of Andrew Scott, you probably know him from all of Us Strangers and the Siri Ripley. But I think the casting is perfect. Scott himself played Hamlet at the Almeida, Theatre in London back in 2017 for over 150 times. So this is an actor who played Hamlet himself, and now he is playing an actor who is playing Hamlet. And Scott's, performance of hamlet back in 2017 was, I believe it was phenomenal. We will put a link to his to be or not to be dialogue in the show notes. Watch it in paper. Particular attention to his hands because you

are telling it like you saw him perform the role.

No, I wish it would, but there is a, recording of it so you can watch it.

I'll put the link in the show notes.

Yeah, it's. Even if you don't understand a word he is saying, you feel what he is saying? at least I did.

And were there some locations in there as well that caught your attention?

Yes, of course.

Because it was mainly his performance.

No, no, no. It's also about the locations. But it's a very long intro about the locations because they filmed outside the National Theater, in London, the actual place where he performed. And they filmed inside Gillian Lynn Theater in London and West End. But the location that really got me is a location in Kent. It's Prospect Cottage. It's in Dungeness, if I pronounce it right, in Kent. And it's a small black timber house on a beach, yellow windows, frames in a beautiful garden. And director, artist and gay rights activist Derek Jarman bought the house back in 1987 and he spotted it for sale while he was filming his movie the Last of England on the beach with actress and friend Tilda Swinton. Can you still follow me?

Yeah, yeah, I follow you.

And he totally, redecorated the house and he lived there until his death from AIDS related complications. And here's the connection that makes this location so powerful. I saw it in the trailer and I don't know exactly how they use it, but Jarman and Charlson knew each other. Jarman directed Charlson in Jubilee and that was Charleston's first ever film role. So two men, two artists, both living through the AIDS crisis, both defined by their final years. And Charleston died in 1990 and German four years later. But by filming at Prospect Cottage, Elsinore connects these, their stories at the real location. And that location carries Jarman's presence in every stone of the house and in every brick in brick of the house and stone in the garden. So I think that's what a great location does. It doesn't just set a scene, it adds a layer.

Yeah, you're so right.

Yeah. When I saw that, that location, I looked it up and I found all this info and I thought, oh, wow, this, this is amazing. So, trailer of Elsinore. Go and see the movie. It's, it's, it opens in the upcoming month. and then go to Kent. At least that's what I plan to do.

I think you're one of the first people who was going to buy a ticket for that one.

Yeah. Yes, I really.

And do you think it's an Oscar? potential Oscar winner.

Yes. I, I've only seen the trailer, but it's. Yeah, I think it's. It really is a performance that's going to win an Oscar. Yeah.

Andrew Scott. Yeah. Andrew Scott is probably one of the best actors I discovered only a couple of years ago.

Yeah.

He's so wonderful in Ripley. He's so wonderful in all of the Strangers. And I discovered him in as Jim Moriarty in Sherlock in the TV series Sherlock.

Really? Is he also in that? Oh, I haven't seen yet. But the other two roles are. Are.

Yeah, he's really amazing. So if you're right, I saw the trailer as well. Quite impressed. there's a lot of talent on screen over in that. In that particular trailer. So, looking forward to that one. Thank you for the tip.

Yes. Yeah. So this was my, thing. What about you?

Well, something very, special happened this past week because, I was planning to talk about something else maybe I will do in a couple of seconds. But, as you know, I also make another podcast for the Dutch market called Fantastis Film Locatis. It's also. It also has a couple of Dutch episodes of English episodes, under the title Fantastic Film Locations. M. But my podcast was selected for the Dutch Podcast Awards 2026.

Yeah.

And that's such an honor. And I, I don't. I don't know even how to describe the feeling I have. I'm living on a pink cloud or something. If we. That's the, the way we express it in the Netherlands. it's such a special feeling that I've been making this podcast for more than four years. Every month I get great feedback from the listeners. But that there's a jury of professionals that now selected my podcast, that's absolutely amazing. So, I'm looking forward to, to what's going to happen on the award tonight.

Yes, I can imagine. Well, it's well deserved, Jeroen. I mean, yeah, it's very exciting and I'm incredibly proud of you. Yeah. So, you know, I'm very happy for you. It's a wonderful recognition of your work.

Thank you for that. So we'll by the time people listen to this podcast, maybe I, think the award is. Evening is already, done. so we know, know what's what's. What's in what's. What happened that night. But we're rooting for you. Yeah. But so thank you.

You're a nominee. It's just like the Oscars. They always say Oscar nominee, blah, blah, blah. So now you say nominee, podcast nominee.

We'll see. Please allow me to also add something to that story, to that news, because I also recently came back from a trip to the northern part of France, where we m. My wife and I visited a couple of chateaus because of the movies they star in, like James Bond movies. But I came across an exhibition in Chateau de Versailles, which is one of the most famous palaces of the world. It's one of the most celebrated palaces in the world. And there's an exhibition going on right now, that tells the story about 20 years of making the movie Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette, Really? By director Sofia Coppola. And it's such an amazing feeling to go to that exhibition in the place where they really filmed, actually filmed that movie 20 years ago. So it's a tip for everybody who listens and wants to go to France or Paris, before the end of January 2020, because that, then the, the exhibition ends. But it's, it's a, it's a real tip. so write it in your agenda if you're planning something to visit Versailles because it's, ah, the chateau, the palace, the castle, or whatever you want to call it. That's amazing. Even though it's a little bit crowded sometimes. But, the exhibition is also worthwhile. And I think we'll hear a lot of people talk about that on online.

Well, that's a good tip. I mean, forsay is also on my places I want to visit. So actually it sounds like now would be a brilliant time to go.

Absolutely.

lovely experience. Both great things that happened to you last week. Well, shall we move on to the news?

Let's do that. There's news about the, new series, I must, say about the famous character Robert Langdon.

Oh, yeah.

Are you a fan of Dan Brown's books?

if I'm really honest, no, I'm not.

Okay. You don't like the books or you don't like the movies as well, or.

No, I like the. I particularly like the first movie and I've tried to read the Da Vinci Code and I think that that's better. That's maybe 25 years ago, very long time ago. And I started it maybe for five or six times, but it's didn't.

Okay.

So no, sorry, not a fan.

If there are people listening who are fans of Robert Langdon, who are fans of the books and movies in the series of Dan Brown based on the books of Dan Brow, Netflix has finally found its new Robert Langdon because it's a character identified with Tom Hanks. Of course.

Yeah, of course.

Morgan Spector will succeed Tom Hanks is the famous Harvard professor in the upcoming adaptation of his latest book, Dan Brown's latest book, the Secret of Secrets. And I have to be honest, I was not that familiar with the work of Morgan Spector. I know that he played in the Gilded Age and I know that he starred in Homeland, but I have to admit I didn't see either series.

So, well, it's, it's, it's, it's in balance with my not ready reading Dan Brown. You haven't seen those series. Yeah, I've seen the Gilded Age and I, I knew him from that. Yes.

But what I like about the books of Dan Brown and what I like about the movies and series based on it is that the locations are such an integral part of the story.

Yeah, that's beautiful.

yeah. And in the case of the Secret of Secrets, Prague is the main character as far as the locations are concerned. And so we're going to see a lot of the famous Prague locations like Letna Park, a municipal house and the Charles Bridge.

It's going to be amazing.

Denim. I think I pronounced that right. The Petron Tower, they're all in the book. I don't know if they all use them in the series, but I'm really looking forward to it. I know that they, they filmed in Latna park and they filmed at the municipal House as far as our sources in Prague tell us. But, And one thing I really want to mention, but I already told you is it's not a movie, it's a series.

Yes, a series.

And I heard that it's a eight hour series. So I think there are going to be eight episodes of each one hour, but I'm not really sure. So we'll have to check, Netflix by the time the series comes out. And I don't even know when they are going to release it.

No, there's no date, no release date yet.

Okay. but the release, the filming in Prague, I think they wrapped that up, but I'm not really sure.

I don't think so. You don't. They, I don't think you have a phone line.

I mean.

Yes, yes. I called him and I said, wow, you ready? Now we're not. Because filming is scheduled to run through mid March 2027. So I think what you saw was the wrap of A Secret in Prague and that's a Philippine Series that also filmed in the city at the same time. So I think that's, that's. They mixed that up in the, in the news.

Maybe they probably have to go to maybe London or whatever to do the post production or to do some scenes in studios, but I'm not sure.

Yeah, maybe we'll go wait and see. But okay, maybe they did.

But that was the news I wanted to share because I'm really looking forward to the new adventures of, Robert Langley.

Yes, I love the movies. I didn't read the books, but I love the movies.

Okay, okay. Is there something, is there something, is there some news that you want to share?

Yes, I want to talk about the Beatles.

Oh, yeah, always good.

Yeah, always good to talk about Beatles.

Especially about the movie that's coming up.

Yeah, the movies that's. That are coming up because Sam Mendez is making four Beatles movies simultaneously, one for each Beatle. And all the movies will open in April 2028. And I understand, I read that, he got something that nobody has ever had before. The full music rights to the Beatle entire catalog. And I heard, the cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of Lennon and Harrison. So it's, I think it's going to be an amazing project. And of course they filmed in Liverpool, the hometown of the Beatles, and they filmed at the real Abbey Road, Pederstone Crossing in London, probably one of the most photographed pieces of road on earth. But here's a surprising location on the list because in June 2026 they recreated the Beatles historic visit to Miami beach in February 1964 when they broadcast their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Miami Beach, Florida.

Like you were there.

I wish I was there. I wish I was there, but I weren't. But Miami Beach, Florida, they filmed that in Salao in Spain. And I think that's a surprising choice. We only know Salao from drunk English tourists.

Well, I, I've been there.

And the Dutch, Sherry Costa, but I don't think any one of our listeners has ever heard of that.

No, I don't think so. I was there as a teenager, but that's a whole different story. Okay, we don't want to get into it.

Make a separate podcast about Jeroen going to Sal.

But if I had known then that Sam Mendez, one of the best directors alive these days, he was going to film it there. No, that was a long time.

You would already make the picture on that balcony. On that beach.

Please still.

Well, the, the beach in Salao and its form line Promenade. It convincingly doubled as for Florida, I mean. And that's, that's, that's amazing. I think when you see what location scouts do, they look at a Spanish beach resort and think, oh, Miami, 1964. Close enough. Let's do this. It's great, isn't it?

Yeah, it's wonderful.

Yeah, it's wonderful.

But there's something going on in Spain because there's a lot of productions that are, that we're heading to Spain or are filming in Spain.

yeah, Disney is filming Tangled over there. The Hunger Hunger Games.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And, Woody Allen started filming last week.

Yep.

His new movie. Yeah.

So Spain is on the map.

Spain is on the map. And there's a new Catherine Cedar Jones series. You also know that. No, you didn't know that. I mean, Jackie killed. I mean, killed Jackie or something. Yeah, four. Yeah, they filmed that in San, Sebastian and in Bilbao. There's a beautiful. When you watch the trailer, you see a shot and she walks past the, Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Okay, can we put the link to that trailer, in the show notes as well?

We will do that. Yeah. Yes.

Okay.

We will do that.

Okay. But that was Spain.

that was Spain and the Beatles. So that was news.

That's the news for this episode. Shall we go to Paris?

Yeah, let's go to Paris. Let's go to the Eiffel Tower.

There's hardly a movie shot in Paris where you don't see the Eiffel Tower briefly on screen. Whether it's Mission Impossible, Fallout, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, or An Education with the wonderful, wonderful Carey Mulligan, or even Disney's Ratatouille M. Showing the Eiffel Tower in a movie is the way to tell us viewers that we are in Paris. But before talking about some of the movies that were actually filmed on or at the famous tower. The Eiffel Tower is unique because it was a bolt iron structure that shocked people at first when they heard about it or when they saw. Became the symbol of Paris and is one of the most visited landmarks in the world. And before I go into the details of the tower, how often have you been to the Eiffel Tower, Tanja?

Oh, wow. Now I have to count.

Oh, shall I go on or do you want to count?

You go on. I'm counting the times I've been to the Eiffel Tower.

Let's, let's do that. Okay. The tower was built in 1889 for the world fair in Paris, and it was meant to be a temporary structure and was not supposed to last. They were going to tear it down afterwards. But the tower became useful for radio and military communication. So that sort of helped it be safe from. From demolition. At the time, as I already told when it was built, and that was in 1887. Until 1889, some people thought it was really ugly and totally. And they also thought it was impossible to build it. But as I said, it became the defining icon of, Paris. it was once one of the tallest structures in the world and built from more than 18,000 iron pieces and held together with about two and a half million rivets.

It's incredible.

Quite amazing. when you stand there, you have to realize that it's 330 meters tall. If you're counting in feet, it's 1083. Including the antennas on the top, it has a total of three levels. The first floor is on 57 meters. The second floor is on 150 meters. And the top level is. And I don't hope you, are afraid of heights, as I have is at 276 meters. And that level can only be reached by elevator.

Way too high for me.

The construction took a total of two years, two months and five days. And I want to mention the creative brain behind it all because his name is Gustav Eiffel, of course, also the name of the tower. He was a Civic, a civil engineer, who made name with, building various bridges for the French railway network. And he's not only known for the Eiffel Tower, but also for the metal structure of one of the other amazing buildings in the world. The Statue of Liberty.

Yeah.

The design of that piece, by the way, came from Frederick Bertholdi, if I pronounce his name correctly.

I didn't know. I didn't know that, Jeroen, until I saw the movie Eiffel. I didn't even know. Yeah, yeah, it's wonderful. It's a wonderful movie. But I didn't know. He was also, part of the building of the, Statue of.

You were also responsible for the. For the metal, structure.

Yeah.

and a lot of people don't know, and I'm going off script here right now, but there's a small version of the Statue of Liberty still in Paris near the bridge we're going to discuss later. It's,

Yeah, well, okay. Yeah, I've seen that. Coming back to your question, Jeroen. Yeah, I think I've been to the Eiffel Tower eight times.

Eight times.

Yeah. I think I've been there eight times.

Oh, amazing.

Yeah.

I didn't know that.

Yeah.

But did you go up eight times or. No. How often did you go up?

Never.

No. You never went up to the Eiffel Tower?

I'm not gonna do that. No, no, I have. Really, really afraid of heights.

I have to.

Yeah, no, I'm not gonna do that unless there is a very special occasion and it's not that crowded, but when it's so, so busy now, I'm not going to do that. But occasion. We went there, was, I don't know how long ago, but we went there for the old year. So me, me Amado, my. My partner went there and we counted the year out under the Eiffel Tower.

Amazing.

Yeah, it was.

That's really romantic. And he didn't go on his knees to ask you to marry him?

No, he didn't. But it was a great experience. Yeah. So. Yeah.

But we are going to take the trip on the Eiffel Tower one day together.

Yes. Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, that's good. That's good.

We're gonna do that because I. I am afraid. I'm afraid of heights as well. But there was a group that took me up and it was. I wouldn't have. I wouldn't want to have missed that. It was absolutely amazing at night. But we're. We'll have to talk about that later. I wanted to wrap up the data about the Eiffel Tower.

What about the movies with the Eiffel Tower?

but I also want to mention that 7 million people visit, so I understand why you say it's crowded, and I don't want to go up with all these people, but 7 million people a year visit the Eiffel Tower. so it's, Well, yeah, it can be a little bit crowded.

Yes, it is. Yeah.

And you already mentioned the wonderful movie, Eiffel, which is a great movie to get the feeling. But we'll get into that movie later as well. I want to mention two movies, two classic movies that were filmed at the Eiffel Tower. We have to mention them because the first one is funny face from 1957 with Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson and Audrey Hen. And it's so special because, well, we both like and love Audrey Hepburn. But they actually filmed it on the tower on the first level where they have this musical song called, Bonjour Paris.

Oui.

Even though the movie is more than 50 years old, it's more than 60 years old. It's A heartfelt movie. And I really wanted to mention it because it was filmed on the Eiffel Tower. And the other one is also a classic. It's the great race from 1965 starring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and Jack Lemmon in a movie by, director Blake Edwards. And in that movie, the, the ending of the tower is not that good because there happens something. If you don't have it, if you've never seen the movie, I won't spoil it. But there, there's going to happen something with the tower at the end.

Well, that's not going to be the last time something happened to the tower in movies and series, because I think it's destroyed many, many times on screen.

But I think the most famous one is the one in Armageddon in 1998, the Michael Bay movie, and GI Joe from 2009. But there are probably more examples of, a tower that's not in a good shape.

Yeah, that's true.

To put the link between the movies filmed there, we have to mention the James Bond movie A View to a Kill from 1985, starring Georgie Moore, of course, Tanya Roberts, Christopher Walken and Grace Jones. and the movie starts with the scene in restaurant Le Jules Verne, which is still on the tower. But they didn't film in the real restaurant, they filmed it in the studio. but the restaurant is still there.

Yeah.

And it's still very expensive, so you need to bring your euros to, be able to afford a dinner over there.

So if I understand correctly, when you take me to the up the Eiffel Flower, we're not going to eat at Giovanni. I have to level the expectations.

Yeah. To manage expectation. I'm glad I can even afford your ticket to go up the tower. But, there's this other scene in the movie that's probably the most famous and that's the jump from the tower, the parachute jump, which was performed by the stuntman BG Worth. And he practiced that jump by jumping off a hot air balloon 22 times. Because they could practice it on the Eiffel Tower. They practiced this somewhere else. And he jumped off an hot air balloon 20 to times. But in the movie, in the, in the, in the take for the movie, it was done in one take. It was one time that he needed to jump off. And the Bond producer, and it's really a funny story, Kobe Broccoli was so excited with the fact that it took only one take to do the jump, he sent a whole box of champagne through the hotel room of B.G. worth, the stuntman. But it had a side story. And that makes this seem so funny to talk about, even if you're on the Eiffel Tower. there was this second skydiver who prepared for the same jump because in case BG Worth was not able to do it or something else was happening to him, there was this backup scenario. And so there was this other guy, the stuntman called Don Celtvet. I don't know if I pronounced his name right, but let's hope so. And because the other take was done in one, he decided to jump off the Eiffel Tower without permission.

He was so looking forward to it.

Yeah, he said, I've practiced, so I want to do it. but that was not really appreciated. So he was immediately fired. And Copy, Broccoli, the Bond producer, really had to fix the crisis with the French police.

But wow, that's a great story.

So if you go on the Eiffel Tower and re watch the images or the scene from A View to a Kill, just remember this whole story about the stuntman who jumped and the stuntman who got fired. But there's also this other movie from 1980, which is quite famous because they filmed at the Eiffel Tower, which is Superman 2 starring Christopher Reeve and Michael, Kidder and Gene Hackman. Originally, the Eiffel Tower was not supposed to be in the sequel because the director of the movie, Richard Donner, he was supposed to film Part one and Part two back to back as sort of one movie, but they made two movies of it. And the Eiffel Tower was not in the original plan, but he was fired. And then the new director and the new team decided to put the Eiffel Tower and the stunt with Lois Lane and Superman in the elevator on the tower in the story. So, really there is a Richard Donner version of Superman ii, but that doesn't have the Eiffel Tower in it. So, so you know, and a replica of the elevator shaft. Shaft was built in the Pinewood Studios in London. So if you take a look at the movie, it was partly filmed at the Eiffel Tower and partly built, and partly filmed in the Pinewood Studio.

So, you know, that makes sense. Yeah.

As far as I have seen, there are a lot of other movies that have been filmed at the Eiffel Tower, but Superman II and A View to a Kill are filmed during the day. A day in daylight.

And every movie I've seen since shows the Eiffel Tower and the Scenes on the Eiffel Tower at night. So I think they must have decided somewhere along the tracks to allow people only to film there at night.

No, I have to stop you there, Jeroen. I don't think that's right because you

have all the examples.

Yeah. Have you seen the movie under the Eiffel Tower?

Say it again?

Under the Eiffel Tower. No, it was filmed in daylight. Okay. It was under the Eiffel Tower, not on the. Taido gave it away. So that's not a good one. But Monte Carlo movie in 2011, they filmed on the actual observation deck in daylight.

Okay.

Although I have to be honest, one of the leading ladies did say in an interview, we got there alone, just us at 5am okay.

So the sun was.

So it's barely day, but it was in daylight.

Okay.

But yeah, they have to be out there before the Eiffel Torrent opens. So it's much easier to film in the dark because then they have all night and otherwise they have a few hours. So when that goes wrong, they have nothing. So, yeah, that's why.

Maybe there's another reason. Because they don't want stunts to be performed during the day. That might be the case, but I'm not sure. There's this other film I want to mention that if you ever want to go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower yourself or see it again, you have to check out all these film tips we are giving you right now. So if you have to watch, if you do a kill or you have to watch Superman 2, but you definitely have to watch Rush Hour 3 from 2007 starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, because Jackie Chan performed the stunts himself like he always did or does. And there's this amazing scene on the tower which is absolutely amazing. I have to give all the credit to Chucky Chan because, they, they shot that scene during the night, as we mentioned, during 10 days. But I know they also built parts of the tower in the studio so they could film certain parts of that amazing scene, in a safe studio, as far as a studio can be safe for the legendary Jackie Chan. But, there's also when they jump off the tower with the, with the, with the flag, they land in the fountain across the Eiffel Tower to Place du Trocadero, which we're going to mention in a couple of seconds. And the landing in the fountain of Jardin du Trocadero was also filmed in Los Angeles with the green screen, as I was told. So it was not really filmed at the base of the, Eiffel Tower.

Yeah. Yeah. And what about Murder Mystery two? That's also.

I mean, I have to be honest, I didn't see that one.

See that one?

No. I'm.

I'm not going to tell Netflix anything. Well, it's on Netflix 2023. Adam Sander and Jennifer Aniston. And not exactly the movie you expect to make history, but it did in a way, because the crew filmed on the actual Eiffel Tower, and Jennifer Aniston's character has a big descent down the side of the tower, and they actually did that stunt. So it's not a trick shot. Her stunt double, Kelly Phelan, if I pronounce her name correctly, hung roughly thousand feet above in a harness, only in a cocktail dress, and she jumped. So she became the first woman ever jumped off the Eiffel Tower, and she's now in the Guinness Book of Records. So it's a funny detail because 40 years earlier, in A View to a Kill, Grace Jones, female character Mayday jumped off the exact tower. Iconic scene. You just mentioned it, and it was done by stuntman. Not the case anymore in 2011. So times are changing in this case, for the better. For the better. But it's amazing how they did all those scenes from every movie on that tower. It's so complicated.

And we have to mention one production as well, because this month in October 2026, the new season of Lupin is going live on Netflix. And in the fourth season, the Eiffel Tower also plays an impressive part. So, we have to mention it because I saw the trailer. You probably did as well.

Yes.

And there's this amazing shot of Omar Sy, who played this, Lupin on the top of the tower.

Should they really have been filming on the tower?

Well, I'm. I'm not sure. We have to check it out somewhere or maybe ask it ourselves to the filmmakers if we ever get in touch with them. But, it looks amazing.

Yeah, it's incredible. When they really shot there, it's. It's awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay. we talked about these movies on or near the Eiffel Tower. but you don't have to climb up the Eiffel Tower, Tanya, just to enjoy it.

Yeah, I just told you, I look up to it. And then it's also good.

Okay. I selected three locations near the Eiffel Tower. if people don't want to go on the tower, you can still have a great look at the tower. And the first place I want to go to is Place du Trocadero. I already mentioned it. it's probably the most popular place to look at the Eiffel Tower, but in itself, it's already a wonderful square with a great view. And it was also a filming location. it was used for the Bernardo bertolucci film from 1970, Il Conformista. And it was, of course used, for Mission Impossible Fallout in a scene with Henry Cavill and Angela Bassett. And it was filmed, and it used. Was used for the John Wick Chapter 4 movie from 2024, with, of course, Keanu Reeves and Bill Skarsgard. and that latest example was filmed, and you mentioned it, with the other movie. It was filmed in the early morning because it's so crowded and they cannot afford to close the area for the whole day or the whole night. maybe they do, but. So they have to film it in the morning and.

Yes. And the light is beautiful.

Yeah. But I also read that they used digital. well, okay.

Of course.

Of course, we don't go into that detail, but they film that in the. In the. Early. In. Early in the morning.

Yeah.

there's also another place where you can see the Eiffel Tower in a wonderful way. And it's also filming locations. It's Pont de Bierakim. and if you stand there, which is an amazing bridge with a whole story to be told about that, you see the Eiffel Tower from a different perspective. But the bridge itself was also a filming location.

Yeah.

So it was. You have to go there and see it with yourself because it was used as filming location for inception with Leonardo DiCaprio and Elliot Page, and Marion Cotiar. And it was used in Lost Tango in Paris, also from, Bernardo Bertolucci, the director, starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider. But you have to take a look at our show notes because we'll put a link to, an article in which they explain how they filmed this amazing scene from Inception. with the mirrors.

With the mirrors, yeah, on the bridge. That's incredible how they did that.

Yeah.

Nobody have to do anything, but you really have to see that because it's done. it's really incredible how that works out in that scene in that movie, how they did that.

So it's a wonderful place because you do not only enjoy the view of the Eiffel Tower, but you also can enjoy the view looking at the bridge, which start, in Inception. And there is this final piece of Paris I want to talk about, the Latest stop. If you want to see the Eiffel Tower from a different perspective, that's Avenue de Camo en. Of Avenue de Camon. I don't know how to say it in English. but it's a place where you don't have a full frontal view of the Eiffel Tower. And I think it's one of the quieter places to take a photo of the Eiffel Tower. And it was also used in movies. for example, it was used by you, Booty Allen for the movie Midnight in Paris in 2011. But I'm telling you that it's not that crowded. I came across some footage of fans from Emily in Paris. Do you know the details about that?

Yes, they used it for Emily in Paris. In fact, it's on the season two poster of Emily in Paris. So it's not that quiet anymore. It's a postcard. Perfect view on the Eiffel Tower. So it's really incredible. So, yeah, it's a nice place to visit and make the Eiffel Turn.

At least three alternatives if you don't want to go up the tower.

Beautiful places.

Beautiful places. With their own stories about filming there. and, so we really want to give that to you as a listener of our podcast.

Yeah, that's okay. That's a great tip. Can I share one more thing about the Eiffel Tower, Jeroen? Because we sold a lot of details and. But there's one thing for all the movie lovers out there, because since 2013, I think 2013, Cinema Paradiso has been taking over iconic venues for screenings in the city. The Grand Palais, the Louvre, Coureil, and now also on the Eiffel Tower. And last month there were nine screenings over four days, including the French movie Eiffel about building the Eiffel Tower. And they screened it at 57 meters high on the tower itself.

That's amazing.

Yes.

I wish we were there.

Imagine in the Gustave Eiffel event hall, you see the movie Eiffel about how they built the construction. Where you're at on that point. It's incredible. And the admission was free and registration was by lottery. So I registered and registered I did, but no luck this year. Maybe more luck next year. And when I get in, we combine our. We go up the tower, watch the movie, eat in the restaurant.

I was just thinking about that.

Yeah. Oh, that would be incredible.

For a screening of a movie on the Eiffel Tower will get you up to the Eiffel Tower. So we just have to win the lottery.

Yeah. Then I will go up there. Yes, I will definitely do it then.

But, Tanya, this sort of wraps up our story of the main topic in this episode, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which is a lovely. It's a lovely city, but it's a lovely place to visit the Eiffel Tower and to see it from all perspectives, as we mentioned in the tips we gave you. So I hope a lot of people will listen to our podcast and, and, we'll take these movies we dropped, see, them before they visit Paris.

Yes, yes. I'm starting to feel like going again.

Me too. Me too.

Maybe in the spring.

Yeah. So this wraps up the, Eiffel Tower. but I think we have lots more to talk about,

So it's time for our classic.

Okay.

Last time, we went to Savoca and Sicily.

The Godfather.

The Godfather. Yes. And now we'd like to go to London, because at the start of this episode, we talked about Dan Brown. Sorry again, Mr. Brown, for not reading your books. So we talked about the new, series, the Secret of Secrets, but it immediately took us back to the movie that started it all, the Da Vinci Code. The film came out in 2006. Tom, Hanks, Audrey Tattoo, Ron Howard, a global sensation. And we win there. To London. And that was the same year that the Da Vinci goat got into the cinemas. I never realized that, but I realized that yesterday.

No, I didn't realize that either.

No, we were there over 20 years ago in 2006. It's unbelievable. 20 years ago, but, oh, we went there and we visited several filming locations together for an article in Reisen magazine. It's a Dutch magazine. And the one I want to focus on today is the location Westminster Abbey. And an iconic scene of the Da Vinci Code takes place there at Sir Isaac Newton's tomb. Dramatic, cinematic. You'd swear you were inside Westminster Abbey. Except you're not. Because Westminster Abbey refused the film crew. The church leaders acknowledged that the book was, and I quote, a page turner. But, its religious claims. Religious claims were unacceptable for Westminster Abbey. So no filming in sight. And the production did what great film crews do. When a door closes, they find another door. And they built a replica of new Newton's tomb and filmed all the Westminster Abbey interior scenes inside Lincoln Cathedral.

Yeah.

And so they used one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings in England, standing in for one of the most famous churches in the world. Yeah, you've been there in Lincoln Cathedral.

Yeah, Lincoln Cathedral. I've been there because I wanted to visit the church from the Da Vinci Code. But it was also used for the coronation scene in the latest Napoleon movie by Ridley Scott. And that church is absolutely amazing. And my personal tip, if you go there, go in autumn, when the sunlight at the end of the day and the leaves on the trees give that place a magic touch. It's really unbelievable. But I don't want to go too far away from, Westminster. No, that's Westminster Abbey.

So when we go, we go in the autumn.

Yeah, absolutely.

But we were there and, we were standing at the Westminster Abbey. And, we know that they used the exterior and, where we stood, Tom Hanks and Audrey tattoo were also there in front of the building.

Yeah, we were in the exact same place.

In our hands, in the exact same place. So that was a nice experience. And of course, there's a gap between what you see and where it was actually made, but it's. Yeah, that's movie magic. I mean, that's great. And years later, I went back with my mother this time, and we were inside, because when we were there together, we had no time to go inside. And it was extraordinary, all this history, all those centuries in one building. And we recreated the image of Tom Hanks in order to do it outside the church together. And it was freezing cold because it was around Christmas. So we had warm hats and scarves and we were completely freezing. But we laughed at ourselves for doing it. And it was perfect. It was a nice photo as a memory of, a great experience together. So Westminster Abbey, a classic location, even when the most famous scene wasn't actually filmed there. So visit it when you get the chance.

Do you know if it was ever really used in a movie? Like the interior of Westminster Abbey? Was it ever used in a movie? Because I think I thought that the whole, theme of the Da Vinci Code was the reason why they. They didn't allow, the crew to come there.

Yeah.

and I later heard that Tom Cruise got permission to film inside Westminster Abbey for Mission Impossible. But we never saw that scene in the movie, so it probably fell through. But I saw, a scene from a famous Dutch movie which won the Academy award in the 80s called the assault. And they, they filmed, they filmed a part of that movie inside Westminster Abbey. So the whole idea that I had that. That nobody was allowed to film ever inside Westminster Abbey, that fell through. So, But have you ever heard about anything else film?

No, I never heard about any movie film, there. I mean. And if Tom Cruise didn't succeed. So the impossible vision remained impossible. At least for Tom Cruise. Not for Von Zrademakers.

Yeah.

The director of the Assault. For anyone who hasn't seen the Assault of God.

And maybe because that particular scene was filmed in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey, that might have been the reason why. Maybe that was a lot, but it was in the 80s, so that's a whole different era.

Yeah, it was a different era. And, and it's technically not a separate space, but it's not in the Westminster Abbey itself.

So maybe, maybe that was the reason.

We're gonna ask them someday.

Yeah. And maybe we'll see another big movie being filmed in Westminster Abbey. I don't know.

I don't. I don't think so. I don't think so.

It's probably too complicated.

Yeah. Otherwise they already did that. I mean, no, I don't think that's gonna happen. But maybe. You never know.

Talk about complicated.

Can I share one last story in this episode? A personal story?

Yes. Share, it with us.

Because my wife and I visited Budapest in January of last year. and we were caught by surprise that we actually walked onto a film set.

Oh, wow, that's incredible.

We travel the world and we visit locations from movies that have already been released. And it doesn't happen that often that you really come across a film crew that's filming on a spectacular location. and the reason why I wanted to mention it, because the movie Matchbox, which I'm talking about with John Cena in a starring role, will be released on Apple TV this month.

Yeah.

and it's always strange to see a new production that you actually saw being filmed on location. And it was such an amazing thing because we wanted to cross the chain, the important and wonderful chain bridge in Budapest. but we were not allowed to cross it because it was all, Well, there were security guys addressing us, ah, saying that we had to walk another way because they were filming on one of the towers of the bridge. And there was actually this stunt scene of a helicopter flying around the tower and a stuntman jumping on the helicopter.

That's ah, also in the trailer. Yeah, yeah. I saw that.

Everybody sees these stunts in all the movies and series we watch on TV or in cinemas, but you're never, almost never there when they're filming it.

Yeah.

And it was absolutely amazing to see it with our own eyes. Particularly because the stunt went wrong. Oh, the stump, really, who was secured with the cable, he, he grabbed wrong. So he, he sort of misjumped and no way. Because he was on the cable. There was no problem. They did it all over again. And the next time he jumped, it was, it all went fine, but I had it on my iPhone, so I had that particular mis M jump on my iPhone. but I don't want to share that.

Oh, no. Sorry, everybody. Not going to be in the show

because maybe the production team will try to haunt me. But I wanted to share that because it was so special being in this amazing city, which is a place where a lot of famous movies have been filmed. And it's a wonderful city to visit with all the history and architecture, etc. You have to definitely go there. but stumbling on a film set like that, that was absolutely amazing.

Yeah. Loved it. Oh, that's a great story. Thanks for sharing.

Yeah. And looking at the time, I think we're about to wrap it up because that's it for today. It's almost an hour, so we've been talking like there's no end. We, took you to the Eiffel Tower and we took you to wonderful alternatives if you want to see the Eiffel Tower from a different perspective. But please let us know what you think of our information about all these movies and all these locations we mentioned in this episode and a lot to come. Is there something?

Yeah, man. And send us photos of film locations you visit yourself a story, fun fact discovery, and maybe we share it in, your experience in our next episode. So go to moviewalks.com and share your story with us. We love to hear from you.

And if you haven't subscribed to our podcast yet, do it now. So you get the next episode in your favorite podcast app, next time, and that's going to be very special. We're going to the Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan, and trust us, you don't want to miss that episode. So until then,

see you at the movies

or somewhere out there.

Bye. Bye.