Emily in Paris — Filming Locations & Real Places

Going into Emily in Paris, this looked like a light romantic comedy — the kind of show you watch for gorgeous Paris scenery and fashion.

Then, in the Season 1 finale, Camille catches Emily kissing her neighbor Gabriel, the chef next door, and it became clear this wasn't going to stay a purely pretty-pictures show.

Episode by episode, it became obvious the tension between Sylvie, who values work-life balance, and Emily, who's obsessed with results, isn't just a joke setup — it's a cultural gap a lot of people genuinely recognize.

Then I found out the cafés and restaurants featured on the show are real places, and suddenly I was watching it for a completely different reason.

플라스 달리다, 몽마르트르(파리) · Riggwelter 촬영, 2006년 8월 · CC BY-SA · Wikimedia Commons

Terra Nera, Gabriel's restaurant, is a real Italian spot in the Latin Quarter. Since the show took off, it's reportedly leaned into the fame with occasional themed menus.

Even better: Café de Flore, where Emily meets the intellectual love interest Thomas, was a real former haunt of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Quietly a much heavier pedigree than you'd expect from a light rom-com backdrop.

As the seasons go on, the love triangle only gets messier. After wavering between Gabriel and Camille, Emily starts a whole new relationship with the Englishman Alfie, dragging the story in a completely different direction.

Personally, the biggest surprise was the back half of Season 4. When Emily decides to join Sylvie's new agency, she deliberately closes the door on some of the relationships she'd built in Paris. It's the first time this endlessly wavering character makes a firm decision for the sake of her career.

Starting in Season 5, the setting expands to Rome and Venice — and the fashion scenes shot at the Spanish Steps and Fendi Rome are the real, iconic landmarks themselves.

팔레루아얄 정원, 파리 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

That's also when a new character, Marcello, shows up, putting Emily's loyalties between Paris and Italy to the test all over again. There's clearly a reason this show keeps working even as the third side of the triangle changes every season.

Even Place de l'Estrapade, the square where Emily's apartment is set, is a real small square in Paris's 5th arrondissement.

"Should Emily end up with Gabriel, Alfie, or Marcello" reportedly splits fans hotly every season — and given how often my own answer changes season to season, I think the show designed it that way on purpose.

So this show is a shame to just watch and admire from a distance. The fact that almost every café and restaurant featured is real and visitable is exactly why it's so easy to watch again and again.

Whenever I make it to Paris, Café de Flore is going straight on my list. Sitting in the same seat Sartre once sat in and striking up a conversation with a stranger, Emily-style, doesn't sound like a bad way to spend an afternoon.