Paris Wants James Bond to Brawl in Versailles

A rowing duel in a canal and rooftop escape by helicopter—sounds like James Bond, but does it sound like Louis XIV? A team of French civil servants is pushing to bring Britain's most famous spy to Paris, and have written a storyline that puts .007 inside the Palace of Versailles. "It would be great to have James in the magnificent decor of the château," a rep for the local film commission tells the Telegraph.

Wooing James Bond is part of a campaign to lure Hollywood films to France, though some locals think pimping out palaces is a tad gauche: A 2008 show by Jeff Koons at Versailles sparked outrage. The film commission insists a bit of Bond would turn the palace into a "center of European artistic creation as it was in the time of Louis XIV." (More James Bond stories.)