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BaSE2 French Flag
Paris yay

Paris as it appears at the beginning of Burial at Sea - Episode 2.

It wasn't really Paris, it was more… it was more the world as I want to see it.
― Elizabeth[src]

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It is one of the many interests of Elizabeth, and is mentioned, and even seen, in segments throughout the game.

Infinite Spoilers


BioShock Infinite[]

BI Monument LizParis

Elizabeth opening a Tear to Paris in an alternate 1983.

Main article: BioShock Infinite

When Booker DeWitt sees Elizabeth for the first time in Monument Tower, he witnesses her open up a Tear to an alternate version of Paris in 1983. The Tear is open only for a short time, as Elizabeth is forced to close it to escape an oncoming fire truck. Paris is mentioned frequently throughout the game, mostly by Elizabeth, who has a romantic obsession with it. In her tower, she was exposed to Parisian art, architecture, literature, and fashion via books or by peeking through Tears. On the airship The First Lady, Booker tells Elizabeth that he is taking her to Paris to gain her trust. 

Burial at Sea - Episode 2[]

Brigid TenenbaumHQ
"The slugs alone could not provide enough ADAM for serious work. But combined with the host...
now we have something."
Brigid Tenenbaum

This article, or section of an article, is a stub.
It is too short to provide more than rudimentary information about a subject. Would you kindly help this wiki by expanding it?
If you ask me, some things are best kept in dreams…
― Parisian Man[src]
Main article: Burial at Sea - Episode 2

Prelude[]

La Poche du Temps Café[]

Poche du Temps sign
Poche du Temps menu

At the beginning of Burial at Sea - Episode 2, Elizabeth experiences a dream wherein she is living in Paris in 1912. On the 17th of April,[1] she explores the sunny city on a street called Rue du Marché, next to the river Seine and a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower, encountering unlikely personages such as famed artist Georges Seurat and even the fictional character Cosette from Les Misérables; and Christian and Roxanne from Cyrano de Bergerac. The dream becomes outlandishly romantic as Elizabeth continues on. At one point she asks a bookstore clerk for a copy of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, but the clerk replies the book hasn't been written yet. A French song, La Vie en Rose by Édith Piaf, initially heard from a phonograph, is soon hummed or sung aloud by a crowd of French citizens and fills the air. It is even chirped by a bluebird that perches on Elizabeth's finger.

Fleurs de la Victoire[]

BaSE2 Paris Fleurs de la Victoire Exterior

Fleurs de la Victoire

Fleurs de la Victoire (English: Victory Flowers) is a fairly large floristry shop in Paris, set between Boucherie - Charcuterie and Fromagerie d'Exception in the corner of the building. It has an impressive outdoor display of some of the flowers the business has to offer, including: geranium, hyacinth, iris, red roses, marguerite, and narcissus, among others. The player can't enter the business, making the rest of the shop's inventory unknown. As Elizabeth walks nearby the shop, an artist right outside takes a break in painting the Eiffel Tower to greet her.

Fromagerie d'Exception[]

BaSE2 Paris Fromagerie d'Exception Exterior

Fromagerie d'Exception.

Fromagerie d'Exception (English: Exceptional Cheese) is a cheese shop in Paris, selling various soft and blue cheeses, set in between Fleurs de la Victoire and Hotel l'Auberge du Bonheur. Elizabeth is unable to enter the shop, but a cheese display has been set outside the facade. Cheeses sold are: Chèvre, Brie, Camembert, Gruyère, Cantal, and Roquefort. Underneath the display, one will find a small mouse eating cheese. An artist selling his drawings sits outside the shop along with his friend. One of the men is caught off guard when Elizabeth approaches, as the two were discussing the "pretty American girl" a la Elizabeth.

Œuvres Distinguées[]

Elizabeth's Fantasy-04

The bookstore.

Œuvres Distinguées (English: Distinguished Works) is a bookstore in Paris, neighboring Le Triomphe. If Elizabeth chooses to enter, she will be greeted by the shopkeeper who promotes his store as containing every book desirable at a reasonable price. Elizabeth asks if he has The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, but he does not, as the book has not been written yet. The bookstore is fairly small with a view to the locked garden at the Bookstore's backyard. The store is filled with bookshelves and books. A cat rests on the mat and a bird sits in a cage.

Le Triomphe[]

Le Triomphe (English: The Triumph) is an À la carte brasserie in Paris, neighboring Œuvers Distinguées. As Elizabeth walks past the restaurant, the maître d'hôtel, standing by the outdoor seating, will greet her. The interior of the restaurant is inaccessible, but Elizabeth can approach the people sitting in the fenced and awning-covered exterior of the restaurant. The outdoors has three tables, two of which are taken by loving couples, enjoying wine. One couple greet Elizabeth as they see her, while the man at the other table expresses his love to his wife, over a bottle of Verse Moi L'Ivresse, Bordeaux.

BaSE2 Paris Le Triomphe Chalkboard Menu

Menu du Jour[sic]:

Entrée[sic]

  • Salade Niçoise[sic]

Plat (Au Choix)[sic]

  • Risotto aux Champignons[sic] - 6F 00
  • Côte de Bœuf et sa Ratatouille[sic] - 7F 50

Dessert

  • Tarte aux Pommes[sic] - 4F 50

Denouement[]

Elizabeth's Fantasy-07

Fantasy becomes nightmare.

Elizabeth is then surprised to find Sally, who loses a balloon and runs after it. As Elizabeth pursues Sally, the dream rapidly deteriorates into a nightmare, as the sky clouds over, rain falls, and the city itself takes on an increasingly sinister appearance as the streets lie empty and in ruin. While progressing through the nightmarish version of Paris, the city seemingly closes off behind Elizabeth if she turns back. When Elizabeth finally catches up to Sally, she experiences visions of the girl locked in a vent and screaming in pain as the heating increases. Elizabeth exclaims regret for abandoning Sally before reawakening in Rapture.

Videos[]

Elizabeth opens the Tear to Paris.
A girl and her poodle, seen in Paris.
Traversing Paris.
La Vie en Rose.

Gallery[]

BioShock Infinite[]

Concept Art and Models[]

In-Game Images[]

Burial at Sea - Episode 2[]

Concept Art and Models[]

In-Game Images[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • The song played in Paris in Burial at Sea - Episode 2 is "La Vie en Rose", by Édith Piaf.
  • The cinema seen when Elizabeth opens the Tear in BioShock Infinite is at the time showing "La Revanche du Jedi," which translates to "Revenge of the Jedi," the original title for the real world film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
  • The name of the café Elizabeth is seated at the start is the "La Poche du Temps". This translates to something like "The pocket of time" and points out that this "Paris" is really just a small pocket of spacetime and is not real.
  • There are newspapers with a photo of Elizabeth with the sur text "qui est cette jolie jeune fille?" "Who is this pretty young girl?"
  • The 1983 version of Paris is, technically, an anachronism. The Eiffel Tower is seen at night with its famous golden lights on. The "golden lights" were only installed two years later, in 1985.[2]
  • There are a few hidden messages in the nightmarish version of Paris that speak to Elizabeth's past and foreshadow her future and events in the Burial at Sea - Episode 2 DLC. These include the Lutece twins' empty rowboat floating down the river; a French poster referencing a masquerade ball; silhouette photos of Columbia, Daisy Fitzroy, the Luteces, Booker DeWitt, and Elizabeth herself; Sally's doll head rolling down a set of stairs; a blurred painting of Booker revealing the location of the Ace in the Hole in Dr. Suchong's Free Clinic; an ace playing card which blows in front of her as she runs through the streets; a storefront advertising a lobotomy (along with a restraint bed, restraint chair, and medical tray); a wind chime made of wrenches; and the Statue of Columbia from Monument Island in the form of a fountain. In addition immediately after confronting Sally, turning around results in only empty cages left scattered in the "L'Oiseau ou la Cage" booth.
  • Many of the posters seen in Paris are based off of vintage advertisements:
    • The poster referencing a masquerade ball "Bal Masqué Dans La Maison Du Mystère" is based on an Art Nouveau drawing by Henri Privat-Livemont, originally titled "Biscuits & Chocolat Delacre".[3] The poster in-game has edited the text and added a butterfly masquerade mask to the woman's face.
    • The "Les Fleurs De Paris" was inspired by a "Papier à Cigarettes" poster for Job cigarette paper and the "La Première Fleur du Printemps" poster was inspired by a "Crème Éclair" poster, both designed by Georges Meunier.[4][5]
    • The "Bal au Cabaret Rose" poster was inspired by a "Les cigarettes Mekka" poster, designed by Charles Loupot.[6]
      • The sign for "Mekka Sont Délicieuses" was also taken from the same poster.
    • The "Compagnie Francaise Des Chocolats Et Des Thés" is largely identical to a poster designed by Théophile Steinlen.[7]
    • The "Quelle Surprise!" poster was inspired by a "Café Malt" poster, designed by Lucien Lefèvre.[8]
    • The "La Saison de L'Amour" poster was inspired by a "Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile. Jeune fille aux cymbales" poster by Delphin Enjolras.[9]
    • Three posters were originally designed by Alphonse Mucha.[10][11][12]
      • The "Divine Paris!" poster was inspired by a "Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile" poster.
      • The "Folies" poster was inspired by a "Flirt Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile" poster. The words "Lefèvre-Utile" can still be seen on the gate detailing.
        • The original poster can also be seen in the game.
      • The "La Fête Du Printemps Concert En Plein Air" poster was inspired by a "Lefèvre-Utile petites gaufrettes vanille" lithograph.
        • A variation of the original lithograph can also be seen in the game.
    • The "L'Euphorie de la Liberté" poster was based on a "Muscat de Tunisie" wine label.
      • The same label also exists in the game as an oval sign.
  • In addition, the texture file shows three more posters that were not used. These remain largely unchanged from the source material.
  • The reflection of Paris seen in the river is not a reflection: Everything "reflected" is actually a mirrored model attached underneath the non-reflected model.
  • The bird that lands on Elizabeth's finger will always pick up tweeting La Vie en Rose exactly on the same part where the song playing in the background is at the time. Because of this, the whole song was recorded as if a bird would have tweeted it. There are thirteen other renditions, aside from the original. All of them are combined the further Elizabeth advances through the city.
  • James Bonney on the development of the bird’s rendition “I did a lot of experimentation, trying to capture the old school charm of the bird-songs in classic Disney movies like Cinderella... what I came up with was frighteningly simple - just record someone whistling (with a little vibrato) at half tempo, and then pitch it up an octave without time correction (which plays it back twice as fast) - it's probably similar to the technique they did back in the day (they probably just played the tape recording back at 2x speed). Once it's up an octave and the vibrato is inhumanly fast, it totally sounds like a bird!”[13]
Renditions of La Vie en Rose
Tweeted by the bird
Original
On clarinet
Played by a trio on a guitar, a violin and an accordion
Hummed by Sally
Sung by a choir
Sung and played by an accordion player
Whistled
Hummed by Elizabeth
  • The Paris in Burial at Sea - Episode 2 is the first time in the series that live cats and dogs are seen, as only deceased ones can be found in Rapture and Columbia.
    • One of the alive cats in Paris uses the exact same model as the dead black and white cats found in BioShock and BioShock 2.
Burial at Sea Paris Baby Carriage

The baby carriage.

  • Two baby carriages can be found in the city. The carriage is an exact replica of the one found outside the Kashmir Restaurant in BioShock.
  • Some of the paintings seen throughout the Paris sequence in Burial at Sea - Episode 2 belong to various Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists including, Georges Seurat, Édouard Manet, Paul Cézanne and Claude Monet. In fact, the first two painters that greet Elizabeth are Claude Monet (the man that offered the drawing) and Georges Seurat.
    • The real world paintings are the following:
      • Boat in the Flood at Port Marly (1876) - Alfred Sisley
      • Place du Theatre Francais Rain Effect (1898) - Camille Pissarro
      • Water Lilies (1916) - Claude Monet
      • A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882) - Édouard Manet
      • A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1904) - Georges Seurat
      • La Goulue Arriving at the Moulin Rouge with Two Women (1892) - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
      • Lady Agnew of Lochnaw (1892) - John Singer Sargent
      • Still Life with Apples (1893–1894) - Paul Cézanne
      • Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880–1881) - Pierre-Auguste Renoir
      • At Mouquin's (1905) - William Glackens
  • In addition to the various Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists and paintings present in Elizabeth's Paris dream sequence in Burial at Sea - Episode 2, several scenes in this introductory level are meant to be reenactments of real-life paintings. The recreations include Paul Cézanne's oil painting The Card Players, and Édouard Manet's paintings The Garden of Pere Lathuille and In the Conservatory.

References[]

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