‘Before Sunset’ tour of Paris

Before Sunset, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy (who co-wrote the script), is a unique kind of travel movie. Jesse and Celine (the main characters reunited 10 years after the events of Before Sunrise) slowly stroll through the streets of Paris, walk through parks, have coffee and take a tourist boat, while talking about everything that happened to them in the past decade.

The movie became a cult classic, and below I assembled a visual inventory of all locations they visited on their evening together, along with an interactive map that you can access on the right (or at the bottom of the page).

Shakespeare and Company

37 Rue Bûcherie, Paris, France –  Photo by Jay Kleeman

Jesse: I mean, I always think of Thomas Wolfe, you know, have you ever seen that little one page note to reader in the front of “Look Homeward, Angel,” right, you know what I’m talking about? Anyway, he says that we are the sum of all the moments of our lives…

Le Pure Cafe

14 rue Jean-Macé, 11e, Paris, France - Photo by Becca Kumar

Jesse: God, I love this cafe. I wish they had places like this in the U.S.

Céline: Yeah, I missed cafes when I was living over there. I mean, I find a few places I really liked, but there was…

Jesse: You…You were living in the U.S.?

Promenade Plantée

Promenade Plantee, Paris, France

Jesse: (To the cafe staff.) Au revoir, merci! Alright, let’s go shopping!

Céline:  No, no, no, no, that’s a bad idea. I don’t want to inflict that on you. It’s madness. Let’s just go on this garden path.

Jesse: Alright.

Céline: It’s really nice.

Quai de la Tournelle

Quai de la Tournelle, Paris, France –  Photo by Nicolas Clavier

Jesse: Let’s get on that boat! Come on!

Céline: You don’t have time! We gotta go.

Jesse: It’s just about to take off. Look, I’ve got… I’ve got…15 more minutes…

Céline: OK, you know I’ve never been on these boats, it’s for tourists, it’s embarrassing!

Notre Dame

Place du Parvis Notre Dame, París, France –  Photo by Shawn McClung

Jesse: I heard this story once, about when the…the Germans were occupying Paris and they had to retreat back, they wired Notre Dame to blow. But they had to…they had to leave one guy in charge of hitting the switch and the guy, the soldier, he…he couldn’t do it. You know, he just sat there, knocked out by how beautiful the place was.

Celine’s Apartment Courtyard

Cour de l’Etoile d’Or, Paris, France

Céline: (Motions to her cat in the path before them.) Here is my kitty! Oh, so cute! Look at him. You know what I love about this cat? It’s that…every morning, I bring him down to the courtyard, and every single morning he looks at everything like it was the first time! Every corner, every tree, every plant. He smells everything with his little cute nose. Oh, I love my kitty! I love my kitty!

Jesse: What’s his name?

Céline: Che.

Jesse:  Che? Uh-huh.

Céline: What?

Jesse: Commie!

Map of the Locations

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6 places are mentioned in this post!

1. Shakespeare Company
2. Le Pure Café
   The "heep-ster" atmosphere at lunch is abso-lutely intolerable (unless you
3. Promenade plantée
4. Quai de la Tournelle
5. Notre Dame
6. Cour de l'Etoile d'Or

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Click on the place name to learn more

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