Napoleon III's Paris city tour
Haussmannian Paris
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Highlights
The tour that deals with the drastic and radical reconstruction that completely changed the city of Paris, by destroying over 70% of it. The most impressive, ambitious, comprehensive yet also destructive and culturally catastrophic urban planning move, possibly of all time - the Haussmannian reconstruction - is the main topic of this tour. We present the pivotal change in the history of the city, where a medieval town, with aspects of renaissance and classical architecture scattered about, became a modern, industrialized capital of the world - in the time span of only 17 years. This is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting tours we offer, as it delves into the very birth of modernity: industrial life, consumerist culture, modern politics, urban living. This tour, like no other, shows us the birth of the world we today live in, and how it came to be in the most important (also, the most beautiful) city in the world, Paris.
Itinerary
Place Vendome
10 minsAdmission Ticket FreeThe architectural and aesthetic model that was used for the reconstruction of Paris done in the second half of the 19th century. The reconstruction in question is the main topic of the tour. This beautiful square from the very end of the 17th century is one of the five royal squares of Paris, and is a marvel to behold in its own right.Palais Garnier
20 minsAdmission Ticket FreeThe world famous Opéra Garnier, also known as the Palace Garnier, is the focal point of the late 19th century reconstruction of Paris, the main topic of the tour. It is the new center of the new Paris, meant to substitute the old one, cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. Please note - we are not entering the Opera house, as this is a separate tour altogether. We only address it from the outside.Societe Generale
20 minsAdmission Ticket FreeThe most beautiful bank in the entire world, bar none - and a true cathedral of wealth. Marvel at the transformation a mundane task (going to the bank) into a truly spiritual experience.Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann
20 minsAdmission Ticket FreeAfter the most beautiful bank in the world, the most beautiful department store. Shopping is elevated to a spiritual, religious experience in this cathedral of opulence and consumerism.Printemps
10 minsAdmission Ticket FreeOne of the two (only possible) competitors for the title of the world's most beautiful department store. A true marvel of decadence and luxury.Havre - Caumartin
15 minsAdmission Ticket FreeA detailed account of the boulevard Haussmann as the prime example of a boulevard, the most prominent type of street in the vision of new, industrialized, bourgeois Paris.Chapelle Expiatoire
10 minsAdmission Ticket FreeAn account of the political division that still shook France in the second half of the 19th century, and the attempts to reconcile the differences between ever waring parties of the monarchic aristocrats and the republican bourgeois.Saint-Augustin Church
10 minsAdmission Ticket FreeThe building that symbolizes the Church and the industrial forces forging a pact; the first church in Paris to be made with extensive use of steel, and a conclusion of the tour.
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Paris in person