The churches of Trinité (1861-67) and Saint-Augustin (1860-71) were undoubtedly the most impressive built in Paris as the city expanded westwards under Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann. They served the newly fashionable districts of the 8th and 9th arrondissements which encompassed the new Opera, the newly laid-out “Europe” quarter and the oldest railway station in Paris, the Gare Saint-Lazare. Edouard Manet and Gustave Caillebotte lived and worked in the heart of this district in the 1870s and 1880s.

During our virtual walk through this 19th century district of Paris, seldom visited by tourists, we will examine the original Haussmannian architecture and compare it to the many paintings of some of its key streets and crossroads by the Impressionist artists: Manet, Caillebotte, Monet, Renoir, Jean Béraud, Louis Anquentin and Norbert Goeneutte.