Les Parapluies de Cherbourg le film

The film

The film by Jacques Demy was filmed in Cherbourg in 1963, and was the first highly successful French feature film. It was awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival and the Louis Delluc award in 1964. 

It was filmed during the summer season and so the fire brigade were called upon to “make rain” with their fire hoses. Forty tonnes of salt were also used for the final scene in which the Quai Alexandre III was covered in snow.

Follow in the footsteps of Catherine Deneuve (aka Geneviève) through the streets of Cherbourg to relive this masterpiece of French cinema which really put this port town on the map, on a worldwide scale.

The filming locations

Browse the brochure for the trail “in the footsteps of Jacques Demy”

Click on the image opposite

The "Véritable Cherbourg"

THE TREASURE OF THE TOWN, THE UMBRELLA KNOWN AS THE “VÉRITABLE CHERBOURG”

To carry on the family business and keep his parents’ tannery, founded in Cherbourg in 1800, going, Jean-Pierre Yvon created the brand Le Véritable Cherbourg. 

There’s quite a history behind Cherbourg and the umbrella: in 1963, Jacques Demy and his film crew came to the town to film “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg”.  Jean-Pierre Yvon, a teenager at the time, watched the filming with fascination. A few years later, when he was working as an advertising photographer in Cherbourg, he decided to bring the Chrebourg umbrella to life.

This became a long-lasting family business and today it is Charles, Jean-Pierre’s son who has taken control of the company. Cherbourg umbrellas are exported all over the world and have become a symbol of French-manufactured umbrellas. The high quality materials used and technical nature of the product have made the Cherbourg umbrella a great success in France and abroad, thanks to its top-quality and innovation.

The shop is on the docks near the town centre in a 19th century building with mouldings and pilasters decorated with acanthus leaves. The shop has a wide range of luxury umbrellas adapted to all, as well as silk products, gloves, headwear, crystal, porcelaine, small leather goods and lots of other products made from high-quality materials. Jean-Pierre Yvon, creator of the brand, took care of the interior design himself, ordering made-to-measure furniture that restored this building to its former glory.

Handmade umbrella

The Manufacture

Inside the very same building, the factory workers make these umbrellas, under the watchful eyes of the general public. From cutting the fabric to the finishing touches, come and see for yourself all the secrets behind making the “Véritable Cherbourg” umbrella. 

Manufacturière parapluie