C'était un rendez-vous ("It was a date") is a short film made in 1976 by Claude Lelouch, showing a high speed drive through Paris. I remember seeing this a few years ago and thinking that dude was gully. Watched it again this morning... I Can only imagine pulling a stunt like this off in 2010, with the red light cameras and cops lurking with their radar in the bushes.

The film shows an eight-minute drive through Paris in the early hours of the morning, accompanied by sounds of a high-reving engine, gear changes and squealing tires. It starts in a tunnel of the Paris Périphérique at Porte Dauphine, with an onboard view from an unseen car exiting up on a ramp to Avenue Foch. Well-known landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, and Place de la Concorde with its obelisk are passed, as well as the Champs-Élysées. Pedestrians are passed, pigeons sitting on the streets are scattered, red lights are ignored, one-way streets are driven up the wrong way, center lines are crossed, the car drives on the sidewalk to avoid a garbage truck. The car is never seen as the camera seems to be attached below the front bumper. Here, the driver gets out and embraces a young blonde woman as bells ring in the background, with the famous backdrop of Paris.

She must have been worth it!


In any instance I wonder if I can get a test-drive of a new sports car for 10-20 minutes, with Google Maps and/or GPS units... maybe I can pull something like this off in my city.

Adds this to my bucket-list.