You don’t need to be a fan of Emily in Paris to enjoy the drama’s gorgeous, often luxurious locations
Emily in Paris Series 1 available now; series 2 from 22 Dec Netflix
ALICIA MILLER - 2 January 2022
Critics called it clichéd, but Emily in Paris was Netflix’s most popular comedy of 2020 for a reason: it whisked us away on a virtual holiday to Europe’s most enticing capital. Now, as American marketing assistant Emily (Lily Collins) returns to our screens for a second series – with fresh work dramas, romances and a host of new French haunts – you can experience her world for yourself. Allons-y…
SEE THE SIGHTS
Emily’s prime stomping ground is Paris’s ornate Haussmann-designed core, particularly the central 1st arrondissement, home to the Louvre. Pause for an Emily-style selfie in pretty Place de Valois, outside her fictional office – marketing agency Savoir – then stroll through the leafy Jardin du Palais-Royal, where Emily spends lunchtimes analysing her love life with her friend Mindy (Ashley Park) on its benches. Last series, while attempting to pin down eccentric fashion designer Pierre Cadault, Emily dolled up for a night of opera at Palais Garnier (operadeparis.fr; tours from €12). Now she swaps it for a new level of opulence, attending a quirky fashion show at the Palace of Versailles (chateauversailles.fr; from €18).
As Emily can attest, Paris is a picture-perfect backdrop for photographs – she has amassed thousands of social media followers by posting images of her day-to-day explorations. You can hop on the Métro to pose in Montmartre’s picturesque Place Dalida, just like our heroine did last series, but some of the city’s most photogenic corners are best seen on a relaxed wander. Walk west along the Seine from Pont Marie to Pont Alexandre III – the De L’Heure perfume ad of series one was shot here – and you’ll spot Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower en route. Or stroll tree-tangled Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, final resting place of Frédéric Chopin, Marcel Proust and Oscar Wilde, which Emily visits in the new series.
CAFE CULTURE
Emily in Paris gives good café – those featured in series one include Le Café de la Nouvelle Mairie (no website; 19 Rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques), near the Panthéon, and famed Saint-Germaindes-Prés hangout Café de Flore (cafedeflore.fr). This time, the famous white-draped chairs of Café Marly (cafe-marly.com), under the Louvre arcades, are on show when Emily has a boozy lunch with friend Camille (Camille Razat) and boss Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu).
If you’re looking for Les Deux Compères, the restaurant run by Emily’s love interest Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), you’ll be disappointed: it doesn’t exist (in real life it’s Italian eaterie Terra Nera, also near the Panthéon). But for a dinner attracting the kind of cool fashion set that Emily hangs with, book in at Silencio des Prés (silenciodespres.com), where sea-salt chocolate mousse comes with a side of people-watching, or Il Ristorante – Niko Romito at the swanky new Bulgari Hotel (bulgarihotels.com). For a steak rivalling the one Gabriel cooks up in the first series, try La Bourse et La Vie (labourselavie.com).
WHERE TO STAY
Replicate Emily’s living-like-a local vibe and check in to a stylish apartment, where you can sip champagne or coffee in your own lounge. Emily’s flat is by the Panthéon at 1 Place de l’Estrapade, but take your pick of characterful vetted stays of all sizes throughout the city with the Plum Guide (plumguide.com). For example, Napoleon’s Neighbour (a historic-butchic apartment) is set by Sentier’s trendy shops and restaurants, a few minutes’ walk from Emily’s office and only 20 minutes from the Eurostar terminal (eurostar.com). Prefer to be pampered at a first-rate hotel? There’s only one appropriate choice.
The first series of Emily in Paris starred the grand dame Hôtel Plaza Athénée (dorchestercollection.com/ en/paris/hotel-plaza-athenee), on the designerboutique-stuffed Avenue Montaigne, opposite the original branch of Dior. Influencers check in to the hotel’s Haute Couture Eiffel Suite for drool-worthy vistas of the Tower, just like in the show. And if you don’t mind the €15,000-a-night price tag, so can you.
FURTHER AFIELD
Last series, Emily escaped to Champagne and Camille’s family chateau. This time, she’s off to the south of France – and you can follow her lead with an onward train to Saint-Raphaël-Valescure (thetrainline.com) or Nice (eurostar.com). You’ll see her knocking back bivalves alfresco at Saint Tropez’s Chez Madeleine (no website; 14 Place aux Herbes); order a platter of oysters and juicy prawns to munch on the cobbles. Follow up with a coffee on the cherry-red chairs at landmark Sénéquier (senequier.com), a harbourside café that also appears in this season. Come evening, don your best designer togs and you might get into exclusive nightclub Les Caves du Roy (lescavesduroy.fr) at the legendary Hôtel Byblos, a celebrity favourite where Mick and Bianca Jagger had their wedding bash. Speaking of hotels, Emily may sightsee in SaintTropez, but she kicks back at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat (fourseasons. com/capferrat), set like a giant white wedding cake on the edge of the billionaires’ playground peninsula by Nice. The hotel’s Palace Sea View suites look out on to the glittering blue Mediterranean, but as you’ll see in the series, the most let’s-all-move-to-France vistas are snapped at its glassily perfect pool.
Critics called it clichéd, but Emily in Paris was Netflix’s most popular comedy of 2020 for a reason: it whisked us away on a virtual holiday to Europe’s most enticing capital. Now, as American marketing assistant Emily (Lily Collins) returns to our screens for a second series – with fresh work dramas, romances and a host of new French haunts – you can experience her world for yourself. Allons-y…
SEE THE SIGHTS
Emily’s prime stomping ground is Paris’s ornate Haussmann-designed core, particularly the central 1st arrondissement, home to the Louvre. Pause for an Emily-style selfie in pretty Place de Valois, outside her fictional office – marketing agency Savoir – then stroll through the leafy Jardin du Palais-Royal, where Emily spends lunchtimes analysing her love life with her friend Mindy (Ashley Park) on its benches. Last series, while attempting to pin down eccentric fashion designer Pierre Cadault, Emily dolled up for a night of opera at Palais Garnier (operadeparis.fr; tours from €12). Now she swaps it for a new level of opulence, attending a quirky fashion show at the Palace of Versailles (chateauversailles.fr; from €18).
As Emily can attest, Paris is a picture-perfect backdrop for photographs – she has amassed thousands of social media followers by posting images of her day-to-day explorations. You can hop on the Métro to pose in Montmartre’s picturesque Place Dalida, just like our heroine did last series, but some of the city’s most photogenic corners are best seen on a relaxed wander. Walk west along the Seine from Pont Marie to Pont Alexandre III – the De L’Heure perfume ad of series one was shot here – and you’ll spot Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower en route. Or stroll tree-tangled Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, final resting place of Frédéric Chopin, Marcel Proust and Oscar Wilde, which Emily visits in the new series.
CAFE CULTURE
Emily in Paris gives good café – those featured in series one include Le Café de la Nouvelle Mairie (no website; 19 Rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques), near the Panthéon, and famed Saint-Germaindes-Prés hangout Café de Flore (cafedeflore.fr). This time, the famous white-draped chairs of Café Marly (cafe-marly.com), under the Louvre arcades, are on show when Emily has a boozy lunch with friend Camille (Camille Razat) and boss Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu).
If you’re looking for Les Deux Compères, the restaurant run by Emily’s love interest Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), you’ll be disappointed: it doesn’t exist (in real life it’s Italian eaterie Terra Nera, also near the Panthéon). But for a dinner attracting the kind of cool fashion set that Emily hangs with, book in at Silencio des Prés (silenciodespres.com), where sea-salt chocolate mousse comes with a side of people-watching, or Il Ristorante – Niko Romito at the swanky new Bulgari Hotel (bulgarihotels.com). For a steak rivalling the one Gabriel cooks up in the first series, try La Bourse et La Vie (labourselavie.com).
WHERE TO STAY
Replicate Emily’s living-like-a local vibe and check in to a stylish apartment, where you can sip champagne or coffee in your own lounge. Emily’s flat is by the Panthéon at 1 Place de l’Estrapade, but take your pick of characterful vetted stays of all sizes throughout the city with the Plum Guide (plumguide.com). For example, Napoleon’s Neighbour (a historic-butchic apartment) is set by Sentier’s trendy shops and restaurants, a few minutes’ walk from Emily’s office and only 20 minutes from the Eurostar terminal (eurostar.com). Prefer to be pampered at a first-rate hotel? There’s only one appropriate choice.
The first series of Emily in Paris starred the grand dame Hôtel Plaza Athénée (dorchestercollection.com/ en/paris/hotel-plaza-athenee), on the designerboutique-stuffed Avenue Montaigne, opposite the original branch of Dior. Influencers check in to the hotel’s Haute Couture Eiffel Suite for drool-worthy vistas of the Tower, just like in the show. And if you don’t mind the €15,000-a-night price tag, so can you.
FURTHER AFIELD
Last series, Emily escaped to Champagne and Camille’s family chateau. This time, she’s off to the south of France – and you can follow her lead with an onward train to Saint-Raphaël-Valescure (thetrainline.com) or Nice (eurostar.com). You’ll see her knocking back bivalves alfresco at Saint Tropez’s Chez Madeleine (no website; 14 Place aux Herbes); order a platter of oysters and juicy prawns to munch on the cobbles. Follow up with a coffee on the cherry-red chairs at landmark Sénéquier (senequier.com), a harbourside café that also appears in this season. Come evening, don your best designer togs and you might get into exclusive nightclub Les Caves du Roy (lescavesduroy.fr) at the legendary Hôtel Byblos, a celebrity favourite where Mick and Bianca Jagger had their wedding bash. Speaking of hotels, Emily may sightsee in SaintTropez, but she kicks back at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat (fourseasons. com/capferrat), set like a giant white wedding cake on the edge of the billionaires’ playground peninsula by Nice. The hotel’s Palace Sea View suites look out on to the glittering blue Mediterranean, but as you’ll see in the series, the most let’s-all-move-to-France vistas are snapped at its glassily perfect pool.
ALICIA MILLER