In 'the Benches of Paris', the second of the three sketches in Rohmer's film, a man and a woman discuss at length what it is to live in the centre of Paris or in the suburbs. We see them at intervals in various Paris locations, all of which are identified for us by a narrating notebook, by dialogue or by signage in the mise-en-scène: The climax of their story comes when they pretend to visit Paris as tourists, meeting at a railway station (the Gare de l'Est) as if they had just arrived in the city, and heading for a Montmartre hotel to spend the night. In the métro on the way there, they act as if they don't know Paris, asking a local 'Is Montmartre this way?', then she looks out of the window (it's an overground section of the métro) and asks 'Where's the Eiffel Tower' (which is on the other side of the city). The man plays the game by pointing to the wrong place on his map. As Parisians, they find all this very funny. (There are more images from Les Rendez-vous de Paris in my slideshow of Parisian stairways, here.)
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