Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)

A crane shot view from 'Quai Caligny' overlooking the 'Bassin du Commerce' during the opening credits shot.

The fort and warehouse in background are clearly recognisable otherwise the skyline looks very different.

Crane shot as above but with camera panned down looking over the cobbled area.

The mooring point and surrounding cobbled area looks unchanged.

For the film the 'Garage de la Poste' was turned into the 'Garage du Port' and is located at 44 rue de l'Ancien-Quai.

Today the building is a probation centre (Service Pénitentiaire d'Insertion et de Probation) and the frontage has been extensively altered.

The umbrella boutique at '13 Rue de Port' was originally a hardware shop/locksmith and converted for the film.

It retains the 'Parapluies de Cherbourg' awning today but is now a boutique furniture shop. At the time of visiting the shop was 'indefinitely' closed.

Daytime shot of the Umbrella boutique.

View down 'Rue des Fosses' as Mme Emery walks towards the Umbrella shop.

The Patisserie on the left is now a Bank. The Epicerie on the right and the green fronted 'Aux Vieux Objets" shop are now both dwellings.

Guy lives with Aunt Elise in an apartment off 'La Cour Marie'.

Mani Ghahremani kindly did a tour of Cherbourg for us to capture required comparaive shots, this being the first. (RL)

Guy takes Genevieve back to his Aunt's apartment before departing for Algeria. View is down 'La Cour Marie' looking towards 'rue Albert Mahieu'.

Incredibly the fruitier on the left, the Singer shop and Optical centre in the background are still going strong more than 50 years later!

'La Cour Marie' again. Through the doorway on the left are the stairs leading to Aunt Elise's apartment.

The left entrance to the apartment is now bricked up and converted into (at the time) an empty boutique.

'Rue Gambetta' looking towards 'rue Albert Mahieu'.

In 2012 No. 14 was a Parfumerie and it remains so. Mani provides this evening shot to replace a Google Earth View, but no rain to replicate the scene. (RL)

The entrance to the dance hall is through a door at no. 14 rue Gambetta. The steps on the left lead to the former newspaper offices of 'La Presse de la Manche' until they relocated just down the road at no. 9 in Jan' 1996.

In 2012 No. 14 was a Parfumerie with the comment "The building facade has changed and the former entrance to the dance hall looks to be the shop entrance on the right." Mani now provides the comparative shot to replace the Google Earth View revealing that it remains a Parfumerie. Interesting to note the plaque to the right recording the appearance in the film. (RL)

Guy and Genevieve meet outside the Theatre on Rue des Tribunaux.

"The 'Cafe du Theatre' is still on the right while the former restaurant building on the left is no longer recognisable", accompanied the Copyright Google Street view in 2012. Mani replaces that with a shot of the location now. (RL)

The Theatre on 'rue des Tribunaux'.

Pretty much unchanged.

Cherbourg railway station where Guy departs for Military Service. The green open door leads to the cafe and waiting room area.

Although not clear from this photo little has changed. The cafe and waiting room are no longer accessible and appear to be used as a storage area. A modern entrance and ticket hall is now located at the far end.

Guy departs Cherbourg Station.

Other than the addition of a canopy and a large apartment block in the background little has changed.

View of Cherbourg railway station. It's March 1959 and Guy has just returned from military service in Algeria.

Mani provides this shot of a much modernised station to replace the Google Earth View that has outstood for many years. (RL)

Roland Cassard marries the pregnant Genevieve at "La Basilique de la Trinité".

Mani send us this shot that replaces a third party image provided in 2014. (RL)

A view from inside the Church as Guy and Madeleine attend Aunt Elise's funeral.

Fortunatley for Mani he found the church free of any services. (RL)

The Carnival at 'La place de la Révolution'. Possibly Cherbourg's greatest admirer, Chris Tirevolis has identified the location in Place De La Revolution and specifically Ancienne Mairie (Old Town Hall) in the centre.

A somewhat less joyous scene for Mani to photograph in order to replace a third party shot from WikiManch. (RL)

Genevieve and Roland Cassard walk along 'Quai Alexandre III' around the water of 'Bassin du Commerce' while 'Le Pont Tournant' is masked by the boat on the left.

The backdrop has changed little since 1964.

Guy walks along 'Quai Caligny'.

The buildings in the background have completely changed.

Guy enters the 'Cafe du Pont Tournant' at No. 48 Quai Caligny.

In 2014 No. 48 was a Pizzeria according to the third party photo that this shot from Mani replaces. (RL)

Inside the "Cafe du Pont Tournant". Incidently inside the Pizzeria there was a 'no photos' sign and from memory it looked not dissimilar to this shot.

The Garage no longer exists - at least according to the film location booklet available (in French only) for free from the Cherbourg tourist office. We can only speculate where it might once have stood. In 2013 MancheTourism identified its location for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the film, Quai Alexandre III, Cherbourg. Google France, type ‘dp 50 ans de Parapluies de Cherbourg’, the site ‘Untitled - Manche Tourisme Professionels’. 10 of the film’s locations including the garage (la station-service) are shown. Google Earth, west side of Quai Alexandre III between Avenue Delaville and Blvd Pierre Mendes des France, one can see a delapitated boarded-up building protected by a wire fence. The right-hand side of the building looks just like the garage in the film but now it has an extension on its left hand side. All the old buildings around it and the road on its right hand side are gone and a modern block of apartments now touches it on its back and right sides. Ray Kathwaroon. Chris Tirevolis confirmed the location and all that Ray says and sent in a Google image supporting Rays description. Chris has done extensive research on this location and has also sent in a number of aerial image shots taken since 1944 to support his findings and the progress of change.

Mani replaces the Google Earth View revealing that the site still remains untouched despite all that has gone on around. (RL)