Live Virtual Tour: The Marais and Bastille with Gil Soltz

Join a local Parisian expert, live from the streets of the Marais and Bastille nieghborhoods, as they allow participants to see firsthand the sites and sounds through this virtual tour. We’ll learn about the tale of two neighborhoods, through the dual lens of yesterday's revolution and today's urbanization. The video-camera-led virtual tour will weave and wind its way through the vibrant and offbeat quarters creating opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and an immersive visual experience.

This live look at the Bastille and Marais neighborhoods is intended to give a sense of history through the lens of the 1789 Revolution and an appreciation for the extensive urbanization which has seen a dramatic rise in commercial activity in the past two decades. Our path takes us through the vibrant and offbeat quarters of the most densely populated arrondissement where Parisian life typically pulses. We will virtually walk through the one-time homes and studios of artisans and laborers who put their lives on the line for the cause of liberty and equality. Then, we will transition from the site of the once Bastille prison to the former world of aristocrats and fineries. Both of these neighborhoods are now full of art and markets, boutiques and galleries, restaurants, and cafes, and we’ll see them in action in this live seminar.

Led by expert fiction writer, Gil Soltz, this virtual tour will give new cultural meaning to the French Revolution of 1789. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with a sense of the life of two distinct districts in Paris which have a shared history and a vibrant place in the present-day city.

This virtual tour is part of a series by Gil Soltz. Each virtual tour can be joined independently and in any order.