Image courtesy Netflix
LUPIN on Netflix stars Omar Sy (The Intouchables) as Assane Diop, the son of a Senegalese immigrant to France whose father Babakar Diop is wrongfully accused and pressured to confess to the theft of a priceless necklace known as The Queen’s Necklace. Set in Paris, the filming locations of LUPIN take the viewer from the most upscale of the upscale to the banlieues where someone like Assane might have grown up.
The backstory in LUPIN is told through flashbacks (with a most excellent casting of younger versions of characters, from a physical perspective). In present-day, Assane learns that the necklace has been found and is being auctioned off at the Louvre. Assane is a sort of modern-day James Bond/Sherlock Holmes/Thomas Crown all rolled up into one, having learned the tricks of the trade from “The Gentleman Burglar” Arséne Lupin, the titular character in the books by Maurice LeBlanc.
To achieve revenge on the Pellegrini family who framed his father, Assane assumes many identities (and costumes). The first season is five episodes and it has just been confirmed that a second season has been commissioned. That’s lucky for viewers because the first season ends on a cliffhanger. And despite all of the flashbacks, we still don’t fully have a sense of who Assane is really. But still, the caper is fun and the script attempts to get a bit beyond the blockbustery feel of the heist — addressing, though mostly superficially, issues of class and race in French society. The New York Times calls LUPIN a international hit that’s a “new twist on a classic French tale.”
If you’re curious about the filming locations for LUPIN, we’ve got you covered! Many of the filming locations are places we’ve covered in our Untapped Paris archives, so enjoy a little trip to Paris through this article!
1. The Louvre
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
So obviously, The Louvre is the most prominent filming location in LUPIN. Not only is the auction of the necklace, which once belonged to Marie Antoinette, taking place in this famous museum in the heat of Paris, but Assane has gone to work under cover as a janitor so he can prep for the heist.
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
The Queen’s Necklace is on display in the Louvre before the auction and we really get to see some of the magnificent galleries and spaces inside the museum, including the I.M. Pei-designed pyramid and the lobby space below it which is used for the auction, the famous paintings of Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix, the Mona Lisa, and more. There have been a history of art heists in Paris and the Mona Lisa itself was stolen in 1911.
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
2. Porte Saint-Martin
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
In the first episode of LUPIN, Assane meets with his somewhat estranged wife Claire (played by Ludivine Sagnier), whom we find out through flashbacks is someone he meets in school, after Mrs. Pellegrini begins to pay for his high-class private school education out of guilt. They meet first in the L’Appartement, a restaurant in the 10th arrondisement at the corner of Boulevard Saint-Martin and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin.
You can see the Porte Saint-Martin, one of the many monumental arches in Paris, from inside the restaurant, and when Claire walks away, she goes past the arch. It was built in 1874 and is inscribed (translation from the French): “To Louis the Great, for having vanquished the German, Spanish, and Dutch armies: the Dean of the Guild and the Aldermen of Paris.”
3. Les Puces
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
Assane’s closest friend, besides Claire, is Benjamin Ferel, someone he also met at his private school. Ferel helps Assane with his thievery and runs an antiques shop in the large antique market, Les Puces.
Les Puces is located just north of Paris in Saint-Ouen and is considered the largest outdoor flea market in the world. In reality, it has both outdoor vendors and vendors that have shops, like Benjamin’s.
4. The Pellegrini’s Mansion
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
The Pellegrino’s live in a sick mansion in Paris, a type of home you would call a hôtel particulier. The French way is to always value discretion and this is reflected architecturally, with the fanciest homes hidden behind doors and invisible from the public.
This is true of the Pellegrino mansion, which is filmed at the Nissim de Camondo Museum near Parc Monceau in the 8th arrondissement not too far from the Arc de Triomphe. There are seen shown on the grounds outside the house, inside the house, and also on the roof when Assane pilots a drone to get photos of Mr. Pellegrino’s documents.
5. Jardin du Luxembourg
Through some cloak and dagger moves, including an anonymous letter, Assane arranges to meet Juliette Pellegrino, the daughter of the Pellegrinos in the Jardin du Luxembourg, a grand park in the 6th arrondisement of Paris on the Left Bank.
Assane loves panache however and disguises himself as a sandwich delivery worker. He arranges for about a dozen deliveries to come to the same place, which enables his escape when he needs to. Fun fact: The Jardin du Luxembourg has a fun replica of the Statue of Liberty.
5. Fontaine de l’Observatoire
In a flashback, you see Assane and his father walking next to the Fontaine de l’Observatoire at the south end of the Jardin du Luxumbourg before they encounter Mrs. Pellegrino, whose car has stalled but refuses to roll down her window when they try to help her. She hasn’t recognized Assane’s father, who works as a chauffeur for Mr. Pellegrino.
Mrs. Pellegrino has her car troubles on the Avenue de l’Observatoire. She’s stopped in front of a building with an interesting lower band frieze of sculptures. That red brick building is the Institute of Art and Archeology, part of the Sorbonne University.
6. Town Hall 3rd Arrondisement
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
Assane dons another disguise and goes into the town hall in the 3rd arrondisement (a town hall is called a “Marie” in French) to capture the police commissioner, the former Inspector Dumont who was in charge of Assane’s father’s case.
In LUPIN, they do film at the actual town hall in the third arrondisement, located on Rue Eugène Spuller across from the Square du Temple-Elie Wiesel. But does Assane actually kidnap the commissioner? You’ll see in the show.
7. Pont des Arts
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
Assane and his son Raoul walk around Paris together and they hit up places like the Pont des Arts, famous for the love locks and also places near Bastille. One spot along the canal is very close to a filming location used for Emily in Paris.
8. Bois d’Arcy Prison
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
The futuristic looking prison that Assane goes to is the prison in Bois d’Arcy, or in French, the Maison d’arrêt de Bois-d’Arcy. Omar Sy was born nearby in Trappes, Yvelines, and according to this French article, he spent some time in with the prisoners while filming LUPIN. This area is a little bit east of Versailles.
The private school the young Assane attends is also filmed in Yvelines at Andrésy and the banlieue where Assane goes to with his fellow Louvre janitor “friends” is located in Trappes. Another filming location in Lupin is Pantin, a formerly abandoned industrial site that is a veritable street art haven. When Assane “kidnaps” Dumont, he sends the police on a wild goose chase to Pantin.
9. Ètretat
Photo by Emmanuel Guimier/Netflix
Assane and Claire take Raoul to Ètretat, a seaside town in Normandy, for Raoul’s birthday. Ètretat is connected to Arsène Lupin, as the book The Hollow Needle, is set there. They take the train from the train station, Gare Saint Lazare, towards Les Havre. Of note is the unique rock formations that jut out to the sea (seen in the background of the photo above), which play a role in the Arsène Lupin story and have been seen in paintings by Monet, Courbet and other Impressionist painters. Additional scenes on the train were filmed at the train yard at Villeneuve St. George.
Check out LUPIN is now streaming on Netflix and stay tuned for season 2 to come!
