The French Revolution

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Arrival

  Travelling by Eurostar to Paris, we will be transferred to the 4* deluxe Hotel Westminster for the duration of our stay. This comfortable and elegant property is located just off Place Vendome, within a few minutes’ walk of the Tuileries Gardens. In the afternoon, we visit the Musee Carnavalet which tells the history of Paris, and which has excellent exhibits illustrating the Revolution and the Napoleonic era.

• Day 2 - Versailles

  We start where the Revolution began, with a private tour of Versailles to see the King’s apartments and the stairway where a mob of women from Paris broke in and threatened the Queen. In the afternoon, we will visit the Petit Trianon where Marie Antoinette established her bucolic retreat.

• Day 3 - walking tour and the Picpus Cemetery

  This morning Hugh Macdonald-Buchanan will lead a walking tour through the central streets of Paris most associated with the Revolution. You will see the position of the guillotine, the site of theTuilleries Palace stormed by the mob, the church of St Roche where the young Buonaparte gave the mob a whiff of grapeshot, and the Palais Royale where demagogues like Camille Desmoulins exhorted the mob to storm Les Invalides and the Bastille. In the afternoon, we visit the Picpus Cemetery (the only private cemetery in Paris) where 1,300 beheaded victims were flung en masse into two pits. Lafayette is buried here as his wife’s family are amongst the victims.

• Day 4 - Conciergerie

  In the morning, we visit the Conciergerie, the ancient palace of the medieval monarchs that was used as a prison during the Terror. Marie Antoinette was held here before her execution, and her friend, the Princess de Lamballe was butchered in the courtyard. Afterwards, we see where Napoleon is buried in the church at Les Invalides. You also have the option of visiting the superb 18th and 19th century galleries in the military museum next to the church. The afternoon is free.

• Day 5 - end day

  In the morning, we visit Napoleon and Josephine’s palace at Malmaison before returning to the Gare du Nord for our Eurostar to London. Alternatively, you may wish to continue to Brussels with Hugh to join our Battle of Waterloo tour - see below and opposite.