20 Things You Didn’t Know About Moonraker (1979)
14. “...The Great City Lying Around Us.”
Although James Bond trails a blonde beauty (Irka Bochenko) to Drax’s lair through the Amazon rainforest, several of these scenes were actually shot in Bois de Boulogne, a park in Paris, particularly around its striking Grande Cascade: a majestic waterfall joining two of its lakes.
However, the wilds of Paris did not end there: having escaped a fiery death-trap, Double-0 Seven and Dr. Holly Goodhead steal through the maze-like abandoned gypsum mines beneath the city to commandeer Moonraker Six.
Centuries old, the cathedral-like underground quarries became a danger as they created sinkholes in the Parisian streets when they inevitably collapsed.
They were partially used to alleviate the overcrowded cemeteries in The City of Light by creating the famous Catacombs of Paris.
Far more topical to Moonraker, their supporting pillars were also dynamited to create openings that refuse could be tipped into as an alternative to creating new landfills. Dynamiting even continued during the filming of the 11th Double-0 Seven movie, whilst Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, and the performers playing Drax’s crews travelled through them to reach their respective Moonraker shuttles.
In these more health and safety conscious times, the tunnels remain largely closed to the public.