Paris: Napoléon III, the Forgotten Emperor Walking Tour｜France

A young revolutionary, grown in exile, scion of a fallen dynasty, nephew of a Great Conqueror but disavowed by his own relatives. This was the life of Charles Louis–Napoléon Bonaparte until he was condemned to life in prison. Yet when informed of the sentence his only answer was : “Perpetuity … How long is that in France exactly ?”. In this one sentence, we can measure the strength of character of this young man. A man that knew he wouldn't stay in Prison. And just six years later he escaped in the most daring prison escape ever attempted. Sounds like a novel doesn’t it ? Yet it really happened.

What we propose in this exclusive tour is to discover this man and his legacy.

Bigger than life, more intriguing than his famous Uncle, a visionary, a sphinx. All those words were used to describe Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. A man that went from a Prince in Exile to First President of the Republic, from a simple political refugee in the United-States to Emperor of the French. His life reads like an incredible adventure but it gets even more interesting as we learn his impact on our world : as a visionary, he pushed the world ever forward, sometimes by literally rebuilding it from the ground up (he’s the man behind modern Paris, or the Suez and Panama canals).

But like all great stories, his had to end in tragedy. The end of his reign is a sort of “nexus of World History”, the exact moment where our world was born : 1870 and the Franco-Prussian War. The birth of Germany, the roots of the First World War, the rise of Socialism, and the Cold War are all rooted in Napoléon III’s reign. But this exclusive tour goes beyond those stories as we also relive the siege of Paris, a unique event in World History that led Parisians to invent digitally encrypted information that could be stored on microscopic film to pass information in and out of the city whilst on the other side of the line the Germans are creating the first AA guns in History …

So join us as we bring back to light one of the greatest world leaders ever, and who was unjustly forgotten : Napoléon III, the First President of France, and its Last Monarch …

! There is a metro ride in this tour so prepare your ticket !

!Please Note! It is recommended to book in advance as I may be called to work for other tour companies and if there is no bookings I will have to close certain slots to work on other missions. Slots are guaranteed only if there are bookings and therefore it is best to book ahead !

! RECOMMENDATION : It is recommended to do this tour before visiting the Louvre museum !


PRIVATE TOUR

On the Private Tour the experience can last up from 2h30 to 3h as we dive deeper into the material and can also arrange a stop at a pastry/macaron shop for a pause and chat (the cost on location is not covered by Ode to Paris).

Don't forget to check my other tours :
-Romans, Franks and Carolingians
-French Monarchy Intrigues
-Scandals
-Révolution(s)
-Napoléon
-Great Women of French History