Welcome to the Sticks: Bergues and Lille

Philippe Abrams, a southern post-office manager, is banished to Bergues for two years, and his first big moment is a bike crash into a café. The scene used the real Café de la Poste, but the film renamed it Café de la Porte, because the fake post office is not next door. Most of the film was shot in Bergues between 21 May and 13 June 2007. Dany Boon picked a small, little-known town, and Bergues has welcomed film fans ever since.

Visitor guidance: Bergues is a small town near Dunkirk; the café stands close to the town's real post office.

Philippe is won over by the north, and the film shows him playing at the beach with his new friends. The sand-yacht scene was shot on the beach at Malo-les-Bains, a seaside district east of Dunkirk with a long stretch of fine sand. It is a short drive from Bergues, so the beach and the town can share one day trip.

Location precision: The film names the beach at Malo-les-Bains; the pin marks the district, not the exact stretch of sand.

Visitor guidance: The beach is public and runs along the North Sea at Malo-les-Bains.

Part of Philippe's new life is going to an RC Lens football match with his colleagues. The stadium scene was filmed during the Lens-Nice game on 19 May 2007. The stadium is the main football ground of Lens and has been home to Racing Club de Lens since it opened. Going on a real match day is the best way to feel what the film caught.

Visitor guidance: Check Racing Club de Lens for match and stadium visit dates.

The friends take Philippe to dinner in Vieux-Lille. The restaurant scene was shot at Chez Morel, place du Théâtre, facing the Chamber of Commerce. Sharp-eyed viewers spot a continuity slip: the story is set in April, yet the street is hung with Christmas lights, because the sequence was shot in winter. The pin marks the square, since the restaurant itself is not confirmed today.

Location precision: The pin marks place du Théâtre in Lille, where the source places the restaurant; whether the restaurant still operates is not confirmed.

Visitor guidance: Place du Théâtre is in the centre of Lille and easy to find on foot.

When Julie arrives, the friends let her stay in an old mining village and pretend it is the main town. For those scenes the crew filmed on 16 May 2007 in the Cité des Électriciens at Bruay-la-Buissière, the oldest in Pas-de-Calais. The site was later rehabilitated and inaugurated in May 2019 as one of five emblematic sites of the region's mining memory.

Visitor guidance: The site is a restored mining village open as a heritage site; check opening hours locally.

The film ends its love story at the belfry. Antoine proposes to Annabelle by unfurling a banner from the top, while the bell tower plays a Stevie Wonder song. The belfry is Bergues' most celebrated sight and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 16 July 2005. It was destroyed by dynamiting in 1944 and rebuilt in 1961. Its carillon of 50 bells sounds for the Monday market, and a Ch'ti tour of the film's scenes has run since March 2008.

Visitor guidance: The belfry stands in the centre of Bergues; the carillon sounds on Monday market days.