The town of Conques, in the Aveyron department of southern France, has classic narrow Medieval streets with cobbled roads.

When designing Belle’s hometown for the new Hollywood movie, the illustrators wanted to find something similar to Belle’s village in the 1992 Disney cartoon, but that also had a ‘touch of reality.’

Production designer Sarah Greenwood told The Hollywood Reporter that she went for recces in France during the design process, starting with Conques.

While the setting was also influenced by other German and French towns, much of the inspiration came from the southern French town.

The village that Emma Watson is seen dancing around in the film was actually built at Shepperton studios in Surrey, but it is almost identical to Conques.

Because of its narrow streets, large vehicles cannot enter the town centre and must park outside.

Very little building has been done in the historic part too, which means that the buildings are largely intact.

 

 

 

According to thesun.co.uk