Bond With France

With a licence to thrill James Bond fans, Chloe Govan goes househunting in the film locations immortalised by the spy who loved France

- Chloe Govan

James Bond never enjoyed a single happy day in Paris, according to the novelist who created him. The fictional spy believed the tourists ripped the heart out of the city”, wrote Ian Flemming.

That may be so but, of course, you don’t actually have to be a tourist in the City of Light. With a little help from an agent – of the real estate rather than MI6 variety – you could always move to the French capital. Then again, why not seek out a home in one of the other French locations where Bond films are set? Get inspiration from cinema’s best-loved secret agent today – and then buy another day!

YOU ONLY LIVE OISE

It's doubtful that 007 would truly have had a terrible time at Paris's most luxurious and literary restaurants. After all, his haunts included the Café de la Paix, once frequented by Oscar Wilde, Le Grand Vefour (which was a favourite of literary villain Marquis de Sade) and even Le Jules Verne atop the Eiffel Tower, named after the author of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. However, the latter was where, in the 1985 movie A View to a Kill, Bond saw a detective being dramatically assassinated. No wonder he has negative memories of Paris.