Bonjour. My name is Laurent, I'm a French native, passionate about history, especially the history of Paris. Let me take you on a walk through the great and small monuments and streets of the city.
From its creation in the 16th Century and through the reigns of kings and emperors, the Tuileries Palace and its gardens were at the center of revolutions that ushered deep political and social changes in French society. We will look at some of those major turning points in recent French history, especially the revolutions of the 1900s.
We’ll start the tour overlooking the Place de la Concorde and its significance during the French Revolution of 1789. We’ll see sculptures from the Baroque period to the modern era, including Coustou, Rodin, and Maillol. We’ll then stroll down the gardens and will go over the changes that took place in the 19th Century, culminating with the events of 1871.
From the Louvre, we’ll cross over to the Comédie Française and Palais Royal and touch on the decadence of the Regency period. We’ll then walk toward the older, popular center of Les Halles and see its evolution from the middle ages to the present day. We’ll end the tour with St Eustache Church and the charming Rue Montorgueil, lined with lively cafés and restaurants.
Book a tour with me, and I’ll show you around some of the most iconic neighborhoods in central Paris.
I will meet you at the corner entrance of the Tuileries Gardens, at exit #1 (Jeu de Paume Jardin des Tuileries) of Concorde métro station (métro line 1).
We start the tour at the Place de la Concorde, where we have a look at some of the major events of the 19th Century with the Eiffel Tower, the Grand and Petit Palais, the Concorde fountains and the great Obelisk.
The Jardin des Tuileries is the original model for the French style garden created by André Le Nôtre in the 17th Century. The Garden is what remains of the Tuileries royal palace, which was destroyed in the late 19th Century, during the last of a series of revolutions.
Palais Royal is where Louis XIV grew up as a child. In the 19th Century it becomes a popular place to see and be seen among the growing bourgeois class, thanks to nearby theaters, and the emerging shopping and restaurant cultures.
Former "wheat hall", the Bourse de Commerce shows the importance of wheat as a major commodity, and of the merchant guilds and municipality's involvement in regulation of the local economy. Of the Queen's Palace built in the 16th Century remains the Medici Column.
Les Halles was the central market that supplied the city since the middle ages. After it moved to the outskirts in the 1970's, les halles become a central transportation hub, and a shopping mall with movie theater, sports and cultural equipment.
St Eustache is the second largest church in Paris. It incorporates elements of Gothic and Classic styles. We will see the funeral monument of prime minister Colbert and end with a surprising piece by Keith Haring.
Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end of the tour the amount that he or she considers appropriate (these usually range from €10 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).
