WW1 walking guided tour in Paris

Your historical exploration of Paris will start at the Invalides where your guide will give you an introduction about the ‘domino effect’ events that led up to the World War I.

You will then walk through the Invalides and learn how Paris entered the war, and how, after a few weeks only, the front lines got less than 40 kilometres of the Capital. You will relive the incredible departure of 4000 young soldiers carried away by 600 taxis and will discuss about the military strategies. Even the Eiffel Tower was used as an anti-aerial defence!

The tour will then take you to the Alexandre 3 Bridge and the Grand Palais. Imagine that this cultural institution was converted in an 800-bed military hospital in less than a month! Parisian citizens quickly organized a great network of solidarity to assist the constant flow of injured soldiers. You will learn about all the medical innovations that scientists quickly came up with to palliate the lack of preparation of French government. Whilst you walk down the Champs-Elysées, you’ll also learn how Paris then adjusted to the life of a city at war. Theatres gradually reopened on the most famous Avenue in the World and were crowded. This will also be the time to discuss about the life of women, as men were drafted into the army. A walk through the today-glamorous Place Vendome will be the chance to hear about the rise of Coco Chanel, and the incredible social progress that was initiated then.

After a coffee break in a Great War hotspot, your tour will conclude at the Arc de Triomphe, where lies the tomb of the soldat inconnu. He was buried under the Arch in 1920, and today, this is still the place of a daily commemoration that you’ll be able to attend after your tour. Your journey to the 1914-1918 will end there. The roaring 20s were just around the corner…