Menton motorcycle chase - the tunnel

In Never Say Never Again, the motorcycle chase through Menton comes to a brief halt in a tunnel, as Bond is lured into the tunnel by Fatima Blush and her henchmen. Bond is captured but manages to escape and continues the chase of Blush.

Bond escapes from the tunnel

A large part of the motorcycle chase, which has been covered earlier, was filmed in Menton on the French Riviera. Menton is the last village before the Italian border. The tunnel seen in the film is called the Pascal Molinari Tunnel and is located right next to Square Victoria, which contains a monument dedicated to Queen Victoria. 

Bond chased into the tunnel along Quai Bonaparte

Menton in October 2015

Bond is captured inside the tunnel but manages to escape, using the tailgate lift of a lorry as a ramp to jump over the henchmens' cars with the motorbike.

Bond then continues to pursue Fatima Blush along the beach road, Quai Bonaparte, in Menton, before arriving in Villefranche-sur-mer where the chase ends at Port de la Darse, in an old warehouse. The building along Quai Bonaparte with its red and yellow wall, seen in the picture below, can still be found on location.  

Quai Bonaparte along the beach in Menton in October 2015. 

Chasing Fatima Blush - Menton

 In Never Say Never Again, Bond chases Fatima Blush through the French Riviera after discovering that she has killed agent 326, his ally Nicole at their villa in Villefranche-sur-mer. Bond is driving his Q-bike down Les rampes Saint-Michel and follows Fatima Blush down the street called Rue Longe in the city of Menton.

Rue Logettes to the left and Place du Cap seen to the right 

Rue Longe comes out through an archway in a building onto Rue des Logettes, the street that Fatima Blush is seen coming down on in the top picture. She then turns left on the the square called Place du Cap and continues along the beach road. The action on the motorbike was filmed in the city of Menton, a very picturesque village located close to the Italian border on the French Riviera. Several part of the motorbike chase were filmed in and around Menton and Villefranche-sur-mer, which is located further west, between Nice and Monaco.

Standing on Place du Cap - the beach vaguely visible in the background 

The arch from which Rue Longe intersects with Rue des Logettes

Fatima Blush has a few henchmen waiting for her and Bond in two cars at Place du Cap. When they spot Bond they start pursue him along the beach, where he already is pursuing Fatima Blush.

Bond drives across the small square as the two cars start chasing him

A similar marquis with the text Specialiteés, as seen through the windscreen of one of the cars can still be found on location at the restaurant La Coquille d'Or. Menton is a beautiful village on the Riviera and this location is well worth a visit, primarily because you can find so many parts of the motorbike chase within walking distance. A lunch at one of the nearby squares is highly recommended.

Blush calls on her henchmen in the two cars and orders them to stay away from Bond since he is her to catch. They do not appear to follow orders however, as they both start pursuing Bond. Blush of course knows that there are Spectre agents waiting in the tunnel ahead, ready to catch Bond as she lures him into the tunnel.

The view from inside one of the bad guy's cars as they start pursuing Bond 

After driving across the square Blush continues along the beach road and ultimately ends up inside the Tunnel Pascal Molinari where they try to capture Bond. The tunnel will be covered later.

The beach road leading up to Square Victoria and the tunnel

Tango at the Casino

In Never Say Never Again, Largo hosts a charity ball at the casino in Monte Carlo. Bond attends uninvited and after winning over Largo at a rather stupid video game called "Domination", Bond settles for one dance with Domino instead of the 267,000 dollars he won. Largo observes the dancing couple from the second floor above as Fatima Blush comes up leaning against the balustrade.

                     "-They move well together don't they?"
        -Today you have anothzer chance. Zhis time, you'd better not fail..." 
                                  - Blush and Largo -

Largo and Blush are standing right above the entrance to the gambling hall, located to the left as you enter the main casino building. The pattern on the floor is very recognisable.

The famous tango scene were filmed in the main entrance hall, just beneath where Largo is watching. Bond and Domino are dancing as the guests are sitting around small tables next to the dance floor.

The large wall painting behind the opposite balustrade (opposite from where Largo is standing) is different from the wall painting behind Largo, it is thus possible to establish that Largo were standing above the entrance to the casino hall, that is to the left from the main entrance.

The wall painting seen in the picture below is the painting seen behind Largo.

Menton Motorcycle Chase - Rue Longe

During the motorbike chase in Never Say Never Again, Bond is lured away from his villa in Villefranche-sur-mer by Fatima Blush, after she has killed Bond's ally, Nicole. After chasing Fatima's Renault 5 Turbo down the roads of Villefranche-sur-mer, Bond ends up in the small town of Menton, close to the Italian border. Here, still in pursuit of Blush, Bond speeds down the famous steps of Saint-Michel in the old part of the city.

As Bond is driving down the steps, Blush is seen driving down Rue Longe that runs below the steps and separate the upper part with the last few steps that continues down to the beach road called Quai Bonaparte. Just before the last steps of the upper part reach Rue Longe, Bond jumps down with the motorcycle and continues the chase down Rue Longe. This narrow street will eventually lead to Rue des Logettes and Place du Cap where Blush's henchmen are waiting in two cars to capture Bond.

Blush is driving around in her Renault 5 Turbo. 

These steps are a historic monument, constructed in the mid 1700's. Bond and Blush later come out on a larger square, where Blush's henchmen are waiting in two cars and Bond becomes the hunted. The tunnel where Bond later is captured, but manages to escape, is only a short walk away from this location, along the beach.

After driving around Menton, Bond and Blush again end up in the port of Villefranche-sur-mer, namely Port de la Darse, where the motorbike chase finally ends and Blush is blown to pieces by Algernon's pen.

Hôtel de Paris - Monte Carlo

GoldenEye

In Goldeneye during Bond's visit to Casino Monte Carlo, the magnificent Hôtel de Paris is visible in the background as Bond drives up to the casino. The hotel was also briefly visible in Never Say Never Again twelve years earlier as Connery walks into what is called "Casino Royale" in the film. Bond has however never actually stayed in that hotel. The Hôtel de Paris is located in the heart of Monte Carlo, right next to the casino at the convenient address Place du Casino.

Hôtel de Paris was opened in 1863 but is today undergoing a total renovation that is scheduled to continue until 2018. During this renovation, the entire south section of the hotel (the round part of the building as seen in Goldeneye) has been demolished, which is apparent in the picture above.

The Persuaders! 

Although Bond himself has never stayed at the Hôtel de Paris, it was nevertheless the destination for Lord Brett Sinclair and Danny Wilde in the first episode of The Persuaders!. After the iconic car chase from Nice airport where Brett and Danny are speeding along the coastal road, they end up in front of the Hôtel de Paris, just like the invitation from Judge Fulton had stated.

"Please be my guest it's going to be a ball!!!"

Only one actual scene was shot inside the hotel, and that was Roger Moore's entrance when he walks through the lobby. Everything else, sadly, appear to have been shot in studio. The hotel lobby is amazingly beautiful and well worth a visit even if you are not staying in the hotel. Anyway, Le Bar American and the restaurant Le Louis XVI located inside the hotel on each side of the lobby, are probably two of the best establishments in Monaco. A drink in the bar is simply a must.

Roger Moore as Lord Sinclair makes an entrance. 

Monte Carlo Harbour - Port Hercule

The warship is located along Quai des Etas-Unis in Port Hercule

In GoldenEye, James Bond goes to Monte Carlo for the first time in the official series. Bond had actually visited Monaco and the French Riviera already in 1983 in the unofficial Never Say Never Again, more on that visit here. The Yacht Manticore is anchored close to the pier of what was then the Monte Carlo Yacht Club, YCM. The warship with the Tiger Helicopter is moored along Quai des Etas-Unis on the other side of the harbour.

In the film, Bond is following Xenia from the casino and finds out that she is spending the night at the yacht Manticore which is anchored in Monte Carlo Harbour called Port Hercule. Bond is watching the yacht from Fort Antoine in the evening and in the morning after, we get a nice panoramic view over the entire harbour. It becomes obvious that there were considerably less boats in Port Hercule in 1995 when you compare it to the harbour 20 years later (see the two pictures above).

You have the best view, and the same view as in the film from the Rampe de la Major, a walking path that leads up to the Prince's Palace which is the home of the Grimaldi family. Originally built as a fortification, the Palace is located on the big rock in the middle of Monaco which offers stunning views from three sides over the principality.

Notice that the right pier in Port Hercule has been expanded since 1995 in order to accommodate larger cruise ships. This construction and the large expansion of the port took place in 2001. As of 2014, the Monaco Yacht Club is no longer located in the old location on the south side of the harbour along Quai Antoine 1er. Instead the new Yacht Club has been relocated across the harbour to the north side. Thus, the original location where Xenia parks the Ferrari does not belong to the Yacht Club anymore.

Menton Motorbike chase - Les rampes Saint-Michel

The motorbike chase in Never Say Never Again, was primarily filmed in and around the village of Menton on the French Riviera. The chase starts in Villefranche-sur-mer, when Fatima Blush kills Bond's ally, agent 326, in the mountainside villa. Bond chases Fatima down the mountain roads and into Menton, which actually is located quite far (approximately 25 km) from Villefranche-sur-mer.

Seen in the background in to the right is the bigger Chapelle de la Conception, facing the square. After driving across the small square with the notable mosaic tiles, 007 speeds down the famous steps called 'les rampes Saint-Michel'.

After driving up the steps behind the church in Menton, covered here earlier, Bond comes down on Place de la Conception in front of the small chapel called Basilique Saint Michel.

During the chase Bond's motorcycle is coming down the steps from both left and right, an obvious blooper. After the last curve on the steps, just above Rue Longe, Fatima Blush is visible in her Renault as she is driving down Rue Longe below the steps.

The steps are facing the water and span from the square, Place de la Conception, all the way down to the beach road called Quai Bonaparte. Rue Longue cuts through the steps before the last part reaches Quai Bonaparte and the shore.

The steps was constructed in 1753 and was extended down from Rue Longue to the Quay Bonaparte in 1941. Facing the steps is l'hôtel Pretti de Saint Ambroise, which together with the Basilique Saint Michel and the Saint Michel steps are cultural monuments. This is of course a must see when visiting the city and not only the historical steps but the entire surroundings of this old part of Menton is beautiful. From here you are only a few minute walk away from several other locations seen in Never.

Bond's motorcycle which is supplied by Q is a Yamaha XJ 650 Turbo. He chases Blush in her Renault 5 Turbo 2.