The French have always been exceptionally talented at anticipating global appetites. They set the trends in high fashion and in wine. They were the first to send help to the North American colonists, helping them win U.S. independence. They even got the world to eat snails, for crying out loud—with no small assist from another great French idea, smothering everything in butter.
Now the people of Paris, perhaps sensing increased global interest in re-balancing inequality, created a free app that traces some 120 sites across 16 Paris neighborhoods that all have a connection to that famous uprising for self-determination, the French Revolution.
The app is called Parcours Révolution (which translates to revolution journey), and its makers, the Paris City Council in collaboration with the City of Paris’ Historical Commission, even wrote it in English to reach a maximum number of potential history-seeking tourists.
What’s in Paris’ French Revolution tour app
The main part of the app is a searchable, pinch-and-zoom map marked with more than 10 dozen important locations in the bloody yarn (tip of the Phrygian cap to A Tale of Two Cities‘ Madame Defarge) of French liberation from the abuses of the wealthy.
There’s no set route, so you can follow the trail as your fancy takes you.
Each flagged entry on the map includes an explanation of what happened at each location, why it was important, and, in most cases, an image (usually, paintings or etchings from archives) of what the place looked like at the time.
For examples, French historians want you to visit the site of the Bastille, a prison the citizens seized in 1789 after the king kept throwing people into it without trial because they opposed him. The French still celebrate the anniversary of this power reversal to this day. Paris’ app makers point you to the place in the Saint-Antoine neighborhood where a riot broke out after a wealthy wallpaper manufacturer named Réveillon announced an intention to lower wages and suggested he should get away with it because as a wealthy person, he created jobs.
They show you the former home where influential “free people of color” and women gathered to seize the moment to declare their own right to equality.
You’ll also see the former wax museum on the Boulevard du Temple where so-called Madame Tussaud made wax copies of the heads of decapitated celebrities so the hoi polloi could see what their oppressors looked like for the first time. (Bet you didn’t know that’s how she became famous.)
Paris also wants you to become acquainted with the Place de la Concorde, the city’s prime square, where for over a year, the French citizens put an permanent end to the overclass (and rebels to the cause) with their terrifying friend, the guillotine.
For those who’d like to make a complete tour of the grisliest sights, the app names several more places where the guillotine operated as well as several churches where its victims were laid to rest in two parts. (Ever since these dark times, it must be noted, the leaders in France have always treated the working class with careful respect.)
The app makers even point travelers to the spot in the Place de la Concorde where an early version of the Statue of Liberty was first erected to take the place of an equestrian statue of King Louis XV after that was melted down.
There’s a lot of revolutionary information to inspire your travels, but if you don’t know much about the period, Parcours Révolution app also includes an 11-year timeline of major revolutionary events and a gallery of biographies of many of the major players, not all of whom made it out the other side of the upheaval.
If you’d like to learn more about the French Revolution and how it all went down—and not gonna lie, things got truly harrowing for a long time—check out this terrific free 8-part series from the jolly history buffs at The Rest Is History, who break it down moment by moment in an entertaining and digestible way.
Then you’ll be prepared to head out and evoke history. Let’s roll!
You can download Parcours Révolution from links on its official website, parcoursrevolution.paris.fr.
Frommer’s Paris day by day
Frommer’s books aren’t written by committee, or by travel writers who simply pop in briefly to a destination and then consider the job done. We employ the best local experts to author our guides, like longtime Paris resident Anna E. Brooke. In this innovative, easy-to-carry, itinerary-based guide sh…
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Frommer’s Paris day by day
Frommer’s books aren’t written by committee, or by travel writers who simply pop in briefly to a destination and then consider the job done. We employ the best local experts to author our guides, like longtime Paris resident Anna E. Brooke. In this innovative, easy-to-carry, itinerary-based guide sh…
