Where can you experience what Paris was like before Haussmann re-shaped the city with its iconic wide boulevards? How did Paris invent the ‘art of window shopping‘ and what did people do in the early years after the French Revolution and under Napoleon on a sunny Saturday afternoon?
They went to the covered passages of course!
True pillars of Parisian identity, these attractive shopping arcades were in their heyday in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Often abandoned or destroyed today less than thirty of them still exist.
Let’s go on a promenade and see these architectural gems which cover a range of styles. Some have been beautifully restored; others are still “undiscovered.” Some are prestigious with chic boutiques and restaurants when others are more humble.
Some are more for wholesale goods; others are lively tourist attractions. Some have more ethnic origins; others are secret, some neglected. Some have even more or less disappeared and we will only find traces of their existence.
Some are more for wholesale goods; others are lively tourist attractions. Some have more ethnic origins; others are secret, some neglected. Some have even more or less disappeared and we will only find traces of their existence.
The walk will cover a dozen passageways, highlighting the most beautiful ones to be found in Paris.
Walk in English organized for expats in Paris. The meeting point is outside the Grands Boulevards metro station.
30€/person.