Author Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau recommends 11 shows and movies to see the lights of Paris

All the lights of Paris in eleven TV shows and movies

– By Kisses and Croissants author Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

When I started working on Kisses and Croissants, my upcoming YA romance novel, I knew not just where, but how I wanted to set this story about ballet, first loves, and chasing dreams. This Paris would be bright, romantic, and totally swoon-worthy.

In Kisses and Croissants, the sun almost always shines, every cobblestoned street is the ideal backdrop for flirting, art abounds on every corner, fireworks burst into the sky above boats sailing down the Seine, and love is in the air.

It was the Paris for Mia, an aspiring ballet dancer who moves there for a summer intensive dance program. Fresh off the plane, she meets the cutest French boy named Louis, who wants nothing more than being her tour guide. Together they decide to explore a legend running in Mia’s family: that her ancestor was a ballerina painted by Edgar Degas himself.

Without giving too much away, there are Vespa rides from Rive Gauche to Rive Droite, leisurely lunches at iconic terraces in Saint-Germain, and jaunts to multiple museums across the city. Mia’s Parisian adventures take her on middle-of-the-night strolls along the Canal Saint-Martin, through the gilded rooms of Opéra Garnier, on a shopping trip to the world-renowned Galeries Lafayette, and watching sunsets from the heights of Montmartre. Not to mention the copious amounts of baguettes, cheeses, pâtisseries, and croissants she savors along the way.

However, as someone who grew up just outside Paris and has visited it dozens of times, I know there are many facets to the City of Lights. At times it can be glamourous and decadent, raw and gritty, or modern and artsy.

Here I’m sharing some of my favorite Paris-set TV shows and movies, from a thrilling heist in the Louvre to love stories starting on vintage carousels, and female assassins in 17th-century décor.

Kisses and Croissants publishes on April 6 with Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House).

5 TV shows that will help you see the lights of Paris

Lupin

The French answer to Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood, Arsène Lupin is the namesake hero of a series of mystery books first published in 1905. In modern-day Paris, Lupin is the inspiration for Assane Diop (played by the fantastic Omar Sy), a masterful and charismatic thief with a family revenge to carry out.

The show opens with a Parisian bang as Diop sets out on a mission to perform a heist at the Louvre, complete with jaw-dropping vistas of the Pyramid (the scene was shot on location). Other famous landmarks include the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Puces de Saint-Ouen (a renowned flea market), and chases on the slates roof of the City of Lights… and mischief.

Part Two is coming to Netflix this summer.

Call My Agent

Dix Pour Cent (as it’s called in French, a reference to the percentage earned by the agents) tells the story of a talent agency struggling to keep the lights on as its team navigates the whims of their famous clients. Expect fancy dinners at Parisian establishments, movie premieres, gossip shared on rooftops with a view, beautiful movie sets, plenty of Vespa action through the streets of the French capital, and lots of chic style. Each episode features a cameo by a beloved French actor playing themselves, from Charlotte Gainsbourg to Jean Reno, and from Jean Dujardin to Isabelle Huppert.

The five seasons are available on Netflix.

The Hookup Plan

Struggling to recover from a two-year-old break-up, Elsa feels stuck in life and in love. She’s about to turn thirty, doesn’t like her job, and can’t imagine she’ll ever meet the one. What happens if Paris doesn’t serve up the romance you dream of?

Luckily (or unluckily) for Elsa, her two besties come up with the grand plan of hiring a male escort to lift her spirits. This delightful comedy features the modern, slightly off-the-beaten-path Paris that you might not see on a first visit, from the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont—a locals’ haven in the 19th arrondissement—to laid-back brasseries, and unpretentious tree-lined cobblestoned streets.

Available on Netflix.

The Eddy

Few people associate Paris with jazz, and yet they make a smooth pair in this show about Elliott, an American musician who moves to Paris to run an edgy club in the 12th arrondissement. It’s just far enough from the usual touristy spots to feel different—think graffitied walls juxtaposed with views of the Eiffel Tower.

Part musical, family drama, and mystery, The Eddy explores the dangerous Paris underworld as it mixes business struggles with the murder of the Elliott’s best friend. The songs set the tone for this dark and gritty drama, which suits cinematic Paris to a T.

Available on Netflix.

Killing Eve

Murder with a side of haute couture? Oui, please! While this series about a female assassin—and the security operative who is obsessed with her—is only partially set in Paris, it certainly packs in some gorgeous locales in a short amount of screen space.

In one of the most iconic moments, Villanelle dons a bubble pink rose dress to meet her handler in ultra-posh Place Vendôme, home of five-star hotels and fine jewelry boutiques. She also takes romantic strolls through the picture-perfect Tuileries Gardens, commutes to her latest hit-job via Rue de la Paix—right off Opéra Garnier—and looks out onto the Sacré-Cœur basilica from her shabby chic Saint-Germain apartment. Paris certainly serves the ritziest backdrops for the assassin’s extravagance and killer instincts.

Available on Hulu.

6 movies that show Paris at its most magical

All That Glitters

The ultimate feel-good French rom-com, about two best friends from an underprivileged neighborhood in the outskirts of Paris who insert themselves into a wealthy and hip Parisian crowd.

As the title suggests, the girls go on whirlwind tour of sparkling Paris, hopping from exclusive nightclubs—one scene was filmed outside the exclusive Le Baron—to swanky 16th arrondissement penthouses, and to fashionable boutiques where they drool over designer shoes. Between the parties and the handsome guys, their lifelong friendship is tested by the lie they’re trying to live.

Available to rent on Prime Video.

Before Sunset

After they spent one night together in Vienna nine years ago (in Before Sunrise, the first opus in the trilogy), Céline and Jesse meet again by chance at Shakespeare and Company, the famous English-language bookstore near Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The two reconnect while wandering the streets of Paris, stopping by swoon-worthy spots along the way: from the hip Le Marais neighborhood to the Promenade Plantée—an elevated passageway going through the 12th arrondissement—and aboard a bateau mouche sailing along the Seine. Filmed in real-time, the story is romantic yet grounded, set against a breezy, natural, mellow Paris.

Available to rent on Prime Video.

Saint Laurent

Telling the story of revolutionary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s heydays—from 1967 and 1976—Saint Laurent takes us on a psychedelic tour of seventies Paris. It’s all glamour, glitter, and glory with a side of hard drugs and bottomless drinks. The city shines with excess at every turn.

Exuberant fashion shows take place in rooms dripping with gold and majestic glass chandeliers, while towers of Champagne are served in purple-lit clubs. Designer-clad models lounge about in Saint Laurent’s eclectic lair, making us all wish we could be the muse of a French genius.

Available to rent on Prime Video.

Two Days in Paris

Marion and Jack are a French-American couple living in New York hoping to rekindle their relationship with a vacation to Europe, of which Paris is the last stop. The film follows them during two days as they visit Marion’s overbearing parents (who don’t speak English) and bump into way too many of her exes.

Sites of their awkward attempts at reviving their romance include the Gare Du Nord train station, deserted subway platforms, and the grave of Jim Morrison in the sprawling Père Lachaise Cemetery. Rife with culture shock and painfully funny moments, Two Days in Paris spins the trope of going to Paris to fall in love on its head as it threatens to end the couple’s relationship for good.

Available to watch on Prime Video.

Girlhood

Girlhood is set in the Paris rarely seen on film: that of the housing projects on the outskirts. But what’s striking about it is how it challenges ideas of femininity, and especially what it means to be a French girl. Out is the white, thin, and posh Parisienne. Instead, Girlhood follows a young Black girl, Marieme, as she’s invited into a gang.

The new friends get up to all sorts of trouble around Paris, from shop-lifting dresses to dancing to Rihanna’s “Diamonds” in a hotel room they can’t afford, and having loud arguments across subway platforms. It’s an emotional coming-of-age, a powerful story of friendship, and a raw depiction of what it means to be a (French) girl.

Available to rent on Prime Video.

Amélie

If there was ever a movie that doubled up as an advertisement for Paris, then Amélie would be it.

Whimsical and endearingly retro, the titular character travels all over the city to find the mysterious stranger she’s fallen for. Winding Rue Lepic, in the 19th arrondissement, is forever associated with the movie, along with the Café des Deux Moulins, where Amélie waitresses.

The quaint little streets of Montmartre offer a dreamland to get lost in, from the vintage carousel to the famous steps leading to the Sacré-Cœur. Canal Saint-Martin is her place of choice for stone skipping and, last but not least, the Foire du Trône funfair transports us into a playful, offbeat Paris.

Available to rent on Prime Video.

Kisses and Crossaints will take you on a romantic trip to the City of Lights when it hits shelves on April 6.