Paris: The City of Virtual Memories

The other night I got to watch an amazing movie.  Midnight in Paris.  If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out.  The funny thing is, something happened to me while I was watching it that made me really think for a moment.

I’ve never been to Paris, France, though I do long to do so someday.  Yet, even though I’ve never been, I have distinct memories about the city.  Distinct memories tied to distinct locations in the city.  Its an interesting concept, and after the movie was done, I stepped back and tried to do that with other movies and cities.





And it turns out, I cannot.  I’ve seen plenty of movies about New York, but the city is foreign to me, as the landmarks in the movies just aren’t as distinct.  Sure, I can see the Brooklyn Bridge in a movie, and I might recognize it, and I might know where its being shot from because I recognize it.  But I don’t say, “Oh wow, there’s that bridge that Matt Damon made that guy walk down in the Bourne series.”

Is Paris really such a movie city icon?  I guess it has to be.  One of my favorite movies of all time is Forget Paris.  A wonderful Billy Crystal movie, where he falls in love, then back out of love, then they keep reconnecting, and remembering the amazing time they had when they fell in love in Paris.  The idea that romance needs more than just one fling was an iconic moment of my childhood.

So many scenes in that movie are burned into my head, which is funny, because some of the scenes in that movie were them pointing out that a scene had happened in yet another movie.  Paris has moved beyond the City of Lights moniker, even beyond the City of Romance moniker.  Its moved into a virtual realm, where I have memories of there, without ever having been.

This concept floored me for a bit, when I rummaged through my brain, thinking of all the memories there.  I wonder how many others have memories of Paris and have never been there?  Surely I’m not the only one.  How many films have tried to do that, tried to capture the romance of Paris on film, and actually done it?

My favorite memory of Paris is Before Sunset.  It’s the follow up to Before Sunrise, which was one of the most beautiful movies I had ever seen.  I loved Before Sunset for so many reasons, but them finding each other again, and catch back up with them....  Such beauty....

But enough about me.  Tell me, do you have this interesting issue?  Do you have memories of a place you’ve never been because of a movie, or maybe even a book, or tv show?  I really want to know if you do, so please comment below!