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Portugal
Portugal had its golden age in the 14th and 15th century, when Lisbon flourished as never before. Famous world explorers started their journeys from the Lisbon area, setting sail for a new world. Unfortunately, disaster struck in 1755, when most of Lisbon was destroyed by a powerful earthquake, wiping away whatever was left of this golden age. Lisbon was rebuilt in the centuries after this, but was never able to regain her fame and fortune of her glory days.
Below is a summary of the story All The Time In The World as featured in the travel guide On The Tracks Of 007
Below is a summary of the story All The Time In The World as featured in the travel guide On The Tracks Of 007
In 1968, director Peter Hunt was on the verge of making “the best Bond film ever”, as he often described it. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was to become a different Bond film, having one of Fleming’s best novels as its basis. Originally, OHMSS was scheduled for production right after Goldfinger, and Harry Saltzman even went back to Switzerland in search for locations, but the sudden appearance of Kevin McClory and the Thunderball-lawsuit changed things. Still, the director’s chair for OHMSS was promised to editor Peter Hunt, fulfilling his greatest wish. When, after the release of Thunderball it was decided that OHMSS would look too much like a Thunderball-on-ski’s and director Lewis Gilbert was hired to do You Only Live Twice, a frustrated Hunt turned his back on EON and went for a long around-the-world vacation, paid for by Broccoli and Saltzman. Coincidentally, Hunt ran into the producers when his world trip brought him to Japan, and after he was promised he could direct the next Bond, OHMSS, he returned to London to do the editing for YOLT.
Hunt wanted to stay as close to Fleming’s original story as possible, and had already been working on the script with Richard Maibaum during their work on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Fleming’s novel could largely be split in two halves: There’s snow action, which was to be filmed in Switzerland, and there is love action, a wonderful love story between James Bond and Teresa de Vincenzo. Hunt faced a serious problem when he read the book, only to discover most of the love action took place in fictional Royale-les-Eaux. Which region on this planet has close ties to both espionage and royalty? Peter Hunt took his film crew to Portugal, to the area around Lisbon, and found some remarkable places that were simply perfect as the setting of James Bond’s ultimate romance.
Nowadays, Lisbon is a modern, busy city with a major parking problem. My advice is not to spend your days in the city, although the old part certainly has its beautiful buildings, cosy restaurants and fado bars. We prefer to take you to the nearby Estoril coast from where you have direct access to everything that is left of OHMSS.
Estoril can hardly be called a town. A posh resort is the result of one man’s dream: Fausto Figueirdo envisioned thousands of people strolling through marble corridors and down mosaic sidewalks to the ocean and if it wasn’t for the determination of this man, Estoril would still be scrub, pines and sandy hills. In 1930, his dreams had finally been materialized, with the building of the Hotel Palácio and the Estoril Casino. Fortunately for Figueirdo, kings, queens, princes and princesses soon found their way to Estoril’s luxury and gave the area the name Costa dos Reis, or Coast of Kings. After WWII the whole Estoril-Cascais-Sintra triangle became a haven for more ex-kings, ex-queens, dukes, duchesses, counts and countesses than any other part of the world, since Portugal was neutral and Europe was being devastated. France, Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Albania, Romania and on and on have refugees living in splendour, who were royal but are refugees now because of politics at home today. Contessa Teresa di Vincenzo would feel perfectly at home here
Estoril can hardly be called a town. A posh resort is the result of one man’s dream: Fausto Figueirdo envisioned thousands of people strolling through marble corridors and down mosaic sidewalks to the ocean and if it wasn’t for the determination of this man, Estoril would still be scrub, pines and sandy hills. In 1930, his dreams had finally been materialized, with the building of the Hotel Palácio and the Estoril Casino. Fortunately for Figueirdo, kings, queens, princes and princesses soon found their way to Estoril’s luxury and gave the area the name Costa dos Reis, or Coast of Kings. After WWII the whole Estoril-Cascais-Sintra triangle became a haven for more ex-kings, ex-queens, dukes, duchesses, counts and countesses than any other part of the world, since Portugal was neutral and Europe was being devastated. France, Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Albania, Romania and on and on have refugees living in splendour, who were royal but are refugees now because of politics at home today. Contessa Teresa di Vincenzo would feel perfectly at home here
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service opens with the famous walk-by reflection of Peter Hunt in the Universal Exports sign, and after a brief scene with M, Q and Moneypenny, the action moves to Bond leaving some coastal town in his new Aston Martin.
This location, which reappears right after the title sequence, can be found in the village of Cascais. When you follow the Avenida Marginal, the old coastal road from Lisbon to the west coast, and in Cascais you follow the signs towards the centro, you will eventually drive through the centre, past the port, towards the Cidadela, an old fortress that nowadays serves as a military school. Park your car in front of this building. It is the view from the Cidadela towards the Cascais port that you see in the film.
The square with the palm trees is still there, at the Avenida D.Carlos I. Peter Hunt cleverly filmed the palm tree tops hiding the rest of the busy boulevard, making it look like there’s nothing there but fishing boats.
When you leave Cascais this way you can follow the signs to Praia do Guincho. A beautiful new road takes you all the way to Portugal’s west coast. Ignoring Guincho beach at first, you should follow the road until you reach a side road leading to Cabo da Roca, Europe mainland’s most western point. Now turn your car around, and drive back towards Guincho Beach. Rua do Cabo is the road on which we get a first glimpse of the new James Bond, and where Tracy’s Ford passes Bond’s Aston Martin. After a few kilometres you will find a marvellous view of Guincho Beach that also featured in the film. When you finish descending the mountain road, you will find yourself on the new road along the beach. When you park your car on the right side of the road you will be at the approximate spot where Bond and Tracy parked their cars, back in April 1969.
Estoril
There’s something about Estoril that brings out the secret agent in all of us. After al, this place was the international spy nest of World War II. The famous Hotel Palácio had been spy headquarters for the Allies just as the Hotel do Parque had been for the German/Italian Axis. Loads of funny stories about the serious spying game have survived: One day the British embarked an agent from a submarine on the windswept beaches of Guincho. Speaking perfectly German and carrying a suit of clothes made in Hamburg together with false papers he checked in at Hotel do Parque, hoping to mix with the other German operatives there. He entered his room quite sure that the trick had worked perfectly and went to bed. When he tuned back the coverlet he found, to his consternation, a Union Jack and an Eton school tie.. All the agents knew that the hotels were bugged. One agent from Berlin would end all his telephone conversations with “Goodbye Hans,” and would then add “Goodbye also to my British friends, wherever you are...” When the Hotel do Parque was torn down after the war, dozens of bugging devices and gobs of wire were found in the walls.
The only survivor of this period is the Hotel Palácio, and this also happened to be James Bond’s hotel during the OHMSS days. You can find the hotel in the centre of Estoril, next to the Casino gardens. The exterior still looks exactly like it did when EON filmed there. The entrance of the hotel is easily recognizable. 007 parked his car here, only to discover Tracy’s Ford found its way to Estoril’s famous hotel, too. The interior of the hotel has changed a bit since, although the marble corridors and floors still breathe the same majestic atmosphere.
Bond enters through the lobby, and after a quick word with Manuel, the hotel’s manager, he is being taken through the garden door, to the pool area outside. The suite he’s in was in fact reconstructed at Pinewood and does not resemble the actual suites at the hotel. The real suites are located in the north wing of the hotel and offer two floors to their inhabitants. All the ‘normal’ rooms (starting from 275 Euro per night) offer the same view of the pool as 007’s suite did. Although the dive board has disappeared, the pool still looks the same.
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This and much more can be found in the chapter 'All the time in the World' in ON THE TRACKS OF 007
Connected hotels:
Palácio
Estoril, Portugal
