Our walk begins and ends with two of the most significant civic monuments in Paris: The City Hall (hôtel de ville) the oldest symbol of the city’s merchant classes and site of all Paris revolutions since 1789 and the 1884 statue of the Republic which affirmed, following all the political and social upheavals of the previous century, at last France’s firmly Republican identity.

We will see along the way, the new poignant garden memorial to the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, recently inaugurated behind the city hall, the impressive Renaissance and Baroque church of St Gervais, historic 17th and 18th century mansions, notably the hotel Soubise and the musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Museum of Hunting and Nature), period apartment buildings, and a little-known 17th century church, St Elisabeth. Current photos of our walk will be complemented with older paintings, photos and prints bringing to life the layers of the past beneath one of Paris’ most historic districts.