Passing to Paris for the big exhibition James Bond 007, exhibition – 50 years of Bond style, which was held in La Villette from April 16 to September 4, 2016, I visited SPECTRE's Paris headquarters almost naturally on my way back. For the first time ever.
August in Paris... I even managed to park exactly the same place as Largo. Nothing unusual here, if this is the intact attachment that I carry to Thunderball, the first saga film to have been shot in France.
35 Avenue d'Eylau – Paris 16th
Loyalty: ★★★★ – Access: ★☆☆
Originally, in the novel, Ian Fleming places the seat of SPECTRE at 136 bis Boulevard Haussmann :
« Boulevard Haussmann connects Faubourg Saint-Honoré to the Opera by crossing the eighth and ninth arrondissements. It is a long and sad path but perhaps one of the most serious in Paris. (...)
In No. 136 bis, for example, a discretely asticated copper plate bears the acronym FIRCO, explained below by this inscription: International Fraternity of Resistance Against Oppression. If you are interested in this organization, whether you are an enlightened philanthropist, or if you sell office furniture, and if you ring, a typical French concierge will open you up. »
For the film adaptation, shot four years later, however, the production relocated the headquarters Eylau Avenue. An obvious choice: it allows you to put the Eiffel Tower in the foreground from the post-generic stage and instantly install the spectator in Paris. The most attentive among you will have noticed the blue-white-red flag subtly evoked by Maurice Binder in the last shot of his credits... difficult to be more explicit.
So it's at 35 avenue d'Eylau SPECTRE HQ is now located. The coverage has also changed: it is now the International Centre for Assistance to Displaced Persons. The plaque obviously disappeared, but for the rest, the building remained exactly as seen in the film.
A location not to be missed during a visit to the capital. Access can even be done on foot from the Eiffel Tower and the banks of the Seine, via the Trocadéro, places of shooting Bondien otherwise richer than the avenue d'Eylau.
This blog shares my travel experiences, from unavoidable destinations to the most original and exclusive places. Each article is the result of careful work and a real time investment. If you use this information elsewhere or for your own adventures, consider citing your sources and thanking – that's what I do myself, and it's always fun.
Julien Abauzit (JaBoz)
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