{"id":381414,"date":"2026-04-04T09:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381414\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T09:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:33:10","slug":"emily-in-paris-effect-divides-french-capital-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381414\/","title":{"rendered":"Emily in Paris effect divides French capital \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The young woman pushed her hand against the large Parisian<\/a> front door as though to open it and posed for a photo, capturing her moment in the world of Emily in Paris<\/a>. Then reality hit, as an elderly resident leaving the building opened the door from within and paused confused, the tourists peering in at him.<\/p>\n

The tourists were among the crowds who gather daily at sites made famous as filming locations in the hit Netflix<\/a> series, which a recent study found was by far the most popular inspiration for tourists visiting Paris.<\/p>\n

The apartment and workplace of eponymous main character Emily Cooper, a young American sent to live in Paris for work, are marked on Google Maps as though they are real places (\u201ca little dream come true\u201d, a recent reviewer wrote).<\/p>\n

A small industry of Emily in Paris-themed tours brings fans to the sites, many in eye-catching outfits and colourful berets to create the perfect picture to share on social media.<\/p>\n

Naomi O’Leary looks at the popularity of Netflix’s Emily in Paris, and the differing views it has caused in France’s capital. Video: Naomi O’Leary <\/p>\n

The phenomenon has divided Paris: a boon for local businesses, but an aggravation to some residents and a symbol of how tourism is pushing up prices for locals.<\/p>\n

Unprintable anti-Emily graffiti was recently scrawled across the shutters of a shop on the square, and the words \u201cEmily not welcome\u201d written on the wall of her apartment building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intrusion, the selfies, this Instagram carry on … these attitudes can be extremely disrespectful and deeply offend the locals,\u201d said Monika Siejka, an academic and lecturer at Paris-Saclay University.<\/p>\n

\"LilyLily Collins as Emily and Ashley Park as Mindy in Emily in Paris. Photograph: Marie Etchegoyen\/Netflix <\/p>\n

The tourists who \u201cinvade neighbourhoods not designed to handle this mass tourism, who stop to take countless selfies, who wear berets \u2013 it can be felt as a real intrusion in many neighbourhoods,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just Emily in Paris that\u2019s associated with this \u2013 but the \u2018Emily in Paris effect\u2019 is very real.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2024 study of tourists by France\u2019s national Centre of Cinematography found that 80 per cent had been inspired to visit by viewing films or series filmed in the city. <\/p>\n

Among them is a hard core: for one in 10, their main reason for visiting was a series or film they had seen, and among those Emily in Paris was the most cited inspiration by far.<\/p>\n

Standing on the picturesque square in the 5th arrondissement where Emily lives in the series was Bethany Brown, who had been surprised by her husband on Christmas day with a puzzle that came together to reveal the words \u201cBeth in Paris\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody thinks \u2013 I certainly think \u2013 god, that would be such a fun life to live,\u201d said Brown (44), an interior designer. Inspired by the series, the couple travelled on the Eurostar from Britain and had just completed an Emily in Paris-themed tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think it would be that popular, but at every spot we stopped at people were taking photos,\u201d Brown said. <\/p>\n

\"DenisseDenisse Favela bought her beret on a visit to Spain as a practical hat but felt it was apt to wear it for her Paris trip. Photograph: Naomi O’Leary <\/p>\n

Denisse Favela (36), the operator of a dress rental boutique in Mexico, was wearing a pink beret with matching lipstick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do identify with her. It\u2019s every girl\u2019s dream to live in Paris…to look like her,\u201d Favela said enthusiastically. \u201cIt might not be realistic for everybody, to look that fashionable every day of your life, but it does give you an inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Businesses featured in the show are now mobbed. The boulangerie frequented by Emily in the series is besieged at all hours, and has embraced the development by adopting Emily-themed paper bags for their croissants and sandwiches.<\/p>\n

\"ValerioValerio Abate, owner of a restaurant made famous by its appearance in the series Emily in Paris, stands outside as a tourist takes a photograph. Photograph: Naomi O’Leary <\/p>\n

The restaurant next door features in the show as the workplace of Emily\u2019s love interest, Gabriel. In reality it is an Italian joint operated by Sicilian Valerio Abate, a cinema enthusiast who adores the crowds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to Netflix,\u201d he said as yet another tourist held up her phone to take a photo of the restaurant. \u201cSometimes they ask if Gabriel is here. In general they\u2019re joking. Maybe some really believe it,\u201d Abate said. \u201cSometimes cinema and reality can get mixed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first series of Emily in Paris was launched in 2020 and it became an escapist pandemic-era hit. When restrictions gave way to a post-Covid tourism boom, the crowds returned to Paris wearing berets. <\/p>\n

Hat sellers have noticed an uptick in sales of the traditional hat, which is worn by Emily in several episodes as part of her overtly colourful outfits. <\/p>\n

\" A beret is worn by Emily as part of her overtly colourful outfits in the series <\/p>\n

While berets have long been sold in France as souvenirs, some sellers are emphatic that they have been re-popularised among foreigners by Emily. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the tourists are doing it more. I think they want to take a photo with the beret in the spirit of Emily in Paris,\u201d said Johanna Pinto, who makes and sells berets and other hats in her Od\u00e8le Paris boutique. <\/p>\n

She has noted an increase in beret sales to foreigners and attributes it to the series. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see it negatively,\u201d Pinto said. \u201cI think it\u2019s cute and nice that a series inspires people to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditionally associated with the Basque Country of southern France and northern Spain before becoming a symbol of Parisian bohemianism, the berets are now marketed online by many companies as \u201cEmily\u201d hats. <\/p>\n

Groups of tourists in colour-co-ordinated berets now swamp the pavements of Paris, and any busy tourist spot in the city will be peppered with the hats.<\/p>\n

\"HatHat sellers in Paris credit a rise in sales of the traditional beret to the Emily in Paris series. Photograph: Naomi O’Leary <\/p>\n

Not all of those wearing berets link their choice of headgear to Emily in Paris, with some saying they had been inspired by images on Instagram.<\/p>\n

Analysts see the phenomenon as part of a broader trend in tourism of visitors seeking to recreate viral images from social media. The volatile currency of virality can have unpredictable, distorting effects, causing long queues to form outside apparently innocuous cafes while an equally good place next door stands empty.<\/p>\n

Things that were once part of ordinary life in Paris, such as shopping at a fruit and vegetable market, have become commodified for tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people who used to shop in their local market, but that\u2019s become too expensive,\u201d said Hannah Thompson, a French literature professor at Royal Holloway University of London.<\/p>\n

In parts of Paris, pains au chocolat pastries can be found for sale for the scandalous price of \u20ac6: a three-fold increase or more on the price locals might expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf shops and restaurants sense they can charge more to tourists, they\u2019re going to do that, and that\u2019s going to push up prices for the locals,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

Emily in Paris has become a shorthand in Paris to refer to such issues. <\/p>\n

In the recent campaign to elect a Paris mayor, the series was referenced as a byword for out of touch privilege and inequality.<\/p>\n

\u201cRachida Dati wants Paris to be like an episode of Emily in Paris,\u201d the socialist Emmanuel Gr\u00e9goire said in a broadside against his main right-wing opponent in his final campaign speech. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s not the reality of our city. That\u2019s not its history … we don\u2019t want that cardboard city.\u201d He was elected mayor.<\/p>\n

Thompson, the professor, notes that one telltale sign that Emily in Paris is an American view of the city is that the characters in it constantly take taxis rather than public transport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got this look, which is so out of out of step with the day-to-day reality of living in Paris, precisely because of its lack of acknowledgment of the housing crisis, economic tensions, homelessness, violence, just the everyday pressures of work and existence,\u201d Thompson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut then again, it\u2019s not a documentary is it? It\u2019s supposed to be escapist fiction. It\u2019s just important that people realise this is not Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lou, a native Parisian, lives something akin to a real version of Emily\u2019s life. She is in her 20s and works in marketing in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people came to Paris thinking that was how life worked and it\u2019s not like that at all. You can\u2019t just go to Paris and expect to live in a Hausmannian building,\u201d Lou said. \u201cIt\u2019s a cut-throat world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The apartment depicted in the series was far too generously sized for someone working in Emily\u2019s job, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer \u2018chambre de bonne\u2019,\u201d a traditional maid\u2019s quarters on the attic floor, \u201cwould be 6m\u00b2 with a tap on the wall and a shared toilet outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the famous apartment stood Chelle, who had travelled from the United States with her daughter to show her the city where she once studied as an exchange student.<\/p>\n

Why does the series have such appeal?<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are really heavy right now in the world, right?\u201d Chelle said. \u201cIt\u2019s just such a breath of fresh air. It\u2019s very colourful, and it\u2019s sort of like an escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

And not just for foreigners. When the fifth season of Emily in Paris was released in December, it immediately went to number two in the Netflix top 10 charts in France. <\/p>\n

The French-dubbed version features an Emily who, unlike in the original, speaks French to the other characters, albeit with a heavy US accent.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be honest, it\u2019s a very successful series in France too,\u201d said Siejka, the Paris-based academic. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a guilty pleasure we don\u2019t admit to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The young woman pushed her hand against the large Parisian front door as though to open it and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,1814,61,60,1868,1838],"class_list":{"0":"post-381414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-france","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-netflix","13":"tag-paris"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}