A date with a movie star: A trip to the city starring in Rio, I Love You reveals that it's as sexy, glamorous and colourful as all the greatest silverscreen idols 

Rio, I Love You is an anthology film starring an ensemble cast of A-list names - from Vanessa Paradis and Vincent Cassel to Harvey Keitel - and I was flown out to meet its biggest star… Rio de Janeiro.

Like all the greatest silverscreen idols, Rio is sexy, glamorous, loud, colourful and demanded my full attention from the second the opening credits rolled, when I arrived at the iconic Belmond Copacabana Palace, a neo-classical wedding cake of a hotel, which has welcomed icons including Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana and Michael Jackson into its marble bosom.

I settled into my gargantuan suite with lounge views across the magnificent pool and bedroom vistas over the glittering ocean, where I got my first taste of bonafide, Brazilian beach bums. In Rio, bikinis - or the dental floss which passes for them - are a token gesture. 

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The giant Art Deco statue Jesus known as Cristo Redentor (Christ Redeemer) on Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Rio, I Love You is an anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities as us a sequel to Paris, je t'aime and New York I Love You

True Blood actor Ryan Kwanten (left) and Marcelo Serrado (right) star alongside Vanessa Paradis and Harvey Keital in the ensemble cast

This is, after all, the birthplace of the Brazilian wax, so unfettered Kardashian buttocks bounce across the horizon like Space Hoppers, while I was undoubtedly regarded as a sea-loving nun in my bum-hugging, British swimwear.

But that meaty view was quickly eclipsed when I boarded a glass-paneled cable car, first to the top of Urca Hill, followed by another, which took me 1,299 feet above sea level to the peak of Sugarloaf Mountain, for 360-degree panoramas across the fizzing metropolis, Guanabara Bay, the city of Niteroi and the sparkling Atlantic.

This imposing, Christmas Pudding monolith inspired I Think I'm in Love, the film's short about a movie star who arrives in Rio for the film festival, and feels compelled to climb Sugarloaf with his reluctant driver, who he falls in love with, while simultaneously succumbing to the Brazilian city where Stephan Elliott - the director behind this autobiographical sequence - now lives.

I shared his awe, so was suitably disgusted in myself for taking a break from the Sugarloaf views at the conveniently placed Havaianas shop atop Urca Hill, to flip-flop shop like a millipede, since they are practically free in Rio. 

The views were so jaw-scraping, it took a while for me to notice the furry rug of tiny, Marmoset monkeys gathering around my (deliciously cheap) Havaianas, like furious, hirsute punks.

Famous skyline: Tourists to Rio de Janeiro flock to Lagoa and Ipanema, with good reason, they are lively, must-see neighbourhoods

Ryan Kwanten (left) and Marcelo Serrado (right) reach the pinnacle to enjoy spectacular views of Rio de Janeiro in this film still

I shared his awe, so was suitably disgusted in myself for taking a break from the Sugarloaf views at the conveniently placed Havaianas shop atop Urca Hill, to flip-flop shop like a millipede, since they are practically free in Rio. 

The views were so jaw-scraping, it took a while for me to notice the furry rug of tiny, Marmoset monkeys gathering around my (deliciously cheap) Havaianas, like furious, hirsute punks.

Another unmissable view can be found from Christ the Redeemer, the gargantuan, Art Deco statue which looms over Rio, like an evangelical Godzilla.

More monkeys, sloths, racoons - a red and black Coral Snake, which I am choosing to overlook - and lizards can be spotted on the breathtakingly beautiful ascent to the 98-foot tall icon, which is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World… and with good reason. 

Icons can sometimes disappoint, like the Statue of Liberty - which looks like a cheap Lego figurine, up close - or the pensioners with nylon beards and gout in Santa's grottos. But Cristo Redentor is as breathtaking as the views across the shimmering coastline and colourful favelas around the Corcovado mountain, on which it proudly stands.

Sugarloaf Mountain offers 360-degree panoramas across the fizzing metropolis, Guanabara Bay, the city of Niteroi and the Atlantic

Beach bums: To see the glamorous beach-goers that line the golden shoreline head to the popular Copacabana beach

The film required 11 directors, multiple shorts, locations and actors, because there are so many stories to tell about this sensual city

Possibly my favourite view was from Restaurant Aprazivel, a family run, Brazilian restaurant set in a tropical tree house paradise, above Santa Teresa. It is regularly listed as one of the best restaurants in the world and it's obvious why, when you tuck into its inventive French-Brazilian cuisine, in one of the grass-roofed gazebos, surrounded by toucans and monkeys, perched over a scene akin to what Neil Armstrong gasped at, when he opened the space curtains of Apollo 11 and gazed out at the twinkling lights far, far below.

Saturday is Feijoada day in Rio, so we sampled this traditional bean and meat stew at Bar Astor, along with their delightfully named 'Breaded Nonsense' - moreish squares of cheese, bread and beef. Tapioca also features heavily in Rio's menus and unlike the unsavoury, frogspawn puddings we were forced to stomach at school, it forms the basis of delicious pancakes, couscous and cheese balls. 

Acai is a small, purple 'youth berry' famed for keeping Brazilian bodies beautiful and we sampled this delicious fruit in a range of smoothies and desserts, washed down with enormous coconuts full of refreshing, milky water. Fruit is so plentiful, varied and delicious that it naturally plays a big part in their cuisine, although Brazilians are partial to chucking an unexpected banana into the most unsuitable, savoury dishes, so you must remain on your guard.

Brazilians love life and age is as visible to them as bikini bottoms. The elderly aren't shielded from polite society, behind beige knitwear and boiled sweets - they are busy necking Caipirinhas and samba dancing, as we discovered when we headed to Rio's hedonistic heart in Lapa. 

We visited Rio Scenarium, a former antique shop, where I struggled to keep up with a tiny pensioner, who became my dance partner during the live samba band's performance, which could be enjoyed from three floors of balconies festooned with curiosities including cars, trumpets and enormous, stained glass windows.

Lively Lapa is Rio's hedonistic heartland and draws the young and old alike to neck Caipirinha and enjoy samba dancing

Lavish address: Belmond Copacabana Palace is undoubtedly Rio's go-to hotel for old-school, Hollywood glamour

Charli settled into a gargantuan suite with lounge views across the magnificent pool and bedroom vistas over the glittering ocean

Rio, I Love You is available on DVD and digital download from 8 February 2016

People of all ages also gathered at the Portela Samba School, which didn't, as I imagined, involve assorted Patrick Swayzes making me carry water melons while jiggling my hips. It was instead, a team of enthusiastic supporters - similar to a football club - dressed in blue, with a flag and enormous Eagle mascot - who gather in the final months before Carnival at samba nights, to learn their school's samba song and dances at official headquarters. 

This is aided by heroic amounts of booze, an army of incredible drummers, live bands and sequin-addled dancers. It was an exhilarating experience, which left me with - what I feared was permanent - Tinnitus for days after. We were also lucky enough to catch another school's Carnival rehearsals, taking over the streets with drag queens, dancers, bands and more Caipirinha-fuelled drummers, at the picturesque Ipanema neighbourhood.

Overlooking the glamour of affluent Ipanema, is one of Rio's most notorious favelas; Vidigal, the slum where Rio, I Love You's dark Vampire of Rio short was filmed. As we gingerly prepared for a tour of this favela, I imagined the British equivalent would be tourists visiting council estates to ogle the locals carrying home Lidl bags of Pot Noodles.

But the steep drive around its labyrinthine, makeshift alleyways through Lego-like blocks of shanty houses piled on top of each other, high into the mountains, provided a fascinating and important insight into these vibrant communities. 

Despite the occasional bandanas wrapped around door handles and trainers hanging from power cables - marking drug gang's territories - this favela has been 'pacified' under a police state programme to expel its drug lords. Stars including David Beckham and Will.i.am have even been rumoured to be buying some of these increasingly trendy, Vidigal 'shanty shacks' overlooking the lush Atlantic rainforest.

At the foot of this imposing favela is the beautiful stretch of sun-drenched beach called Ipanema. This is an indigenous word for 'bad, dangerous waters,' which explained why, for the duration of our afternoon, helicopters hovered just above our heads and breezily lifted people from the enormous waves, like giant Arcade Claw Machines, returning them to the safety of the beach. 

Unruffled, the Brazilians marched straight back into the waters, shortly afterwards. The film features a short called La Fortuna, which sees Emily Mortimer's gold-digging character drowning in similar waves, while her elderly, long-suffering husband casually smokes a cigarette.

The sun set on my Rio adventure, opposite Ipanema beach, at The Fasano hotel. While Belmond Copacabana Palace is undoubtedly Rio's go-to hotel for old-school, Hollywood glamour, The Fasano is Rio's mecca for beautiful young people, with fans including One Direction, Lady Gaga and the Beckhams. So I toasted the city with an Apple Mojito, gazing across its glitterati - who were busy being beautiful and rich at its dazzling, rooftop infinity pool and bar - as a salmon sky spread across the buzzing metropolis.

And I understood why the film required eleven directors, multiple shorts, locations and actors, because there are so many stories to tell about this rich and sensual city. I also finally, understood its title: Rio, I Love You.