Maps of Movies
La Grande Vadrouille (1966)
Where La Grande Vadrouille says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
Three RAF airmen fall over Paris in 1942 and flee across France: Paris landmarks are real, but the hotel, the patrol and the wine cellar come from places hundreds of kilometres apart.
View on the map
Scenes and places
A parachutist lands in the seal pond (1966)
A British airman drops out of the sky into a zoo and has to reach the secret meeting point dressed as a civilian.
Set in Vincennes Zoo, Paris — Sir Reginald, one of the shot-down airmen, comes down in the Vincennes Zoo and is given civilian clothes by a zookeeper. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The Vincennes zoo in east Paris.
Filmed at Parc zoologique de Paris (Vincennes Zoo) — The parachute landing in the seal pond was filmed here in August 1966. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Escape from a painter's platform (1966)
A house painter finds an RAF airman landing on his scaffold. With the Germans closing in, he is dragged into an escape he never asked for.
Set in Paris, near an SS headquarters — Peter Cunningham lands on the platform of house painter Augustin Bouvet, and the two escape the Germans.
A short street in the centre of Paris, in the 1st arrondissement.
Filmed at Rue Bertin-Poirée, Paris 1st — The film's location list names the street in front of no. 4; which exact stretch of the scene it matches is not stated. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The airman on the Opera roof (1966)
A fussy conductor wants nothing to do with the war, but a British airman has landed on his opera house roof. He reluctantly takes on the errand.
Set in Palais Garnier, Paris — Alan MacIntosh lands on the Opéra Garnier, where the chief conductor Stanislas Lefort reluctantly helps him. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The 19th-century Paris opera house in the 9th arrondissement.
Filmed at Palais Garnier — Used for the Opera scenes; English Wikipedia says the film was shot at the Billancourt Studios, so some interior work may be on a set, and the sources do not say which. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The secret rendezvous at the baths (1966)
The two helpers walk into a steam bath to meet airmen they have never seen. The meeting point is what the whole plan depends on.
Set in Grand Mosque of Paris hammam — The crew agree to rendezvous at the hammam of the Grand Mosque of Paris. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A mosque and bathhouse in the 5th arrondissement.
Filmed at Hammam of the Grande Mosquée de Paris — Named in the film's location list; that list is flagged on French Wikipedia as needing a source. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Out through the sewers (1966)
Disguised in German uniforms, the helpers return to the Opera at night and slip out through the chaos of a bomb plot.
Set in Paris, Opera and sewers — After the evening confusion at the Opera, the group escapes.
The Paris sewer network, parts of which can be visited.
Filmed at Paris sewers (égouts de Paris) — The sewer article lists the film; the coordinate is a representative point only (near the sewer museum), not the section filmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The train they miss (1966)
The helpers arrive too late and watch their only train to the Free Zone pull away.
Set in Gare de Lyon (as played in the film) — The group miss the train that Juliette and Peter take to Meursault.
A major terminus in the 10th arrondissement.
Filmed at Gare de Paris-Est — The Gare de l'Est plays the role of the Gare de Lyon in the departure scene. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
On the road to Burgundy (1966)
Out of Paris at last, the unlikely pair travel through the countryside and meet the nun whose order secretly helps the Résistance.
Set in Pouques-Lormes area, Nièvre — After leaving Paris, the group head toward Burgundy. Google Maps · Apple Maps
Farmland in the Nièvre department, between Paris and Burgundy.
Filmed at Drémont, Pouques-Lormes (D958) — The film's location list names the D958 road near Pouques-Lormes and the hamlet of Drémont; the coordinate is the commune centre, not a road point. The list is flagged as needing a source. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The nun's hospital in Beaune (1966)
Inside a hospital run by nuns, the helpers and the airmen are treated as patients while the Germans hunt for them.
Set in Hospices de Beaune — Sister Marie-Odile, a nun whose order is secretly assisting the Résistance, shelters the group. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A medieval almshouse in Burgundy.
Filmed at Hospices de Beaune — Several scenes were shot here, in particular in the ward known as the 'pôvres' room. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The hotel in Meursault (1966)
The pair reach the hotel and discover the German major is about to turn up in the same building.
Set in Meursault — Bouvet and Lefort are sent ahead to a hotel owned by Juliette's aunt in Meursault, where they nearly run into Major Achbach. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The Burgundy wine town of Meursault.
Disguised as German gendarmes (1966)
In borrowed uniforms the pair try to pass as a patrol heading for the line, but the disguise does not hold.
Set in Meursault countryside — Disguised as a Feldgendarmerie patrol, they are supposed to make their way across the demarcation line the next morning. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A karst rock maze in Aveyron, far south of Burgundy.
Filmed at Chaos de Montpellier-le-Vieux, Aveyron — The sequence of the pair in German uniforms was shot in this rock formation; the 'Porte de Mycènes' rock is recognisable, and Louis de Funès climbs on Bourvil's back. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Brought back under guard (1966)
Caught out, the two are marched back toward the town under German guard.
Set in Meursault — The two are unmasked and brought back to Meursault. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A village in Yonne with a medieval bridge.
Filmed at Pont de Ternos (Vieux-Pont), Pierre-Perthuis — The old bridge was used as a set for a scene of the film; the coordinate is the village centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The wine casks and the Kommandantur (1966)
A miscommunication sends the hidden airmen straight into the cellar of the German headquarters, the one place they most want to avoid.
Set in Meursault German headquarters — Reginald and MacIntosh are meant to be smuggled in wine casks, but their casks are diverted into the cellar of the Meursault headquarters. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The town hall of a Burgundy wine town.
Filmed at Mairie de Meursault — The Kommandantur scene was filmed in the setting of the present town hall; the coordinate is the commune centre, not the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The gliding club (1966)
With the Germans close behind, the group reach a closed gliding club and go for the gliders as their only way out.
Set in Gliding club near the Free Zone — The fugitives make their way to a shuttered gliding club, where they intend to use the gliders to reach the nearby Free Zone. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A small aerodrome on a plateau in Lozère.
Filmed at Mende-Brenoux aerodrome, near the Truc de Balduc cliff — The aerodrome article ties the film's closing sequence to this site; it dates the shoot June-July 1965 while the film article gives the start of shooting as 16 May 1966. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Characters
- Augustin Bouvet — A Paris house painter pulled into helping a downed airman.
- Stanislas Lefort — The chief conductor of the Paris Opera, reluctantly helping another airman.