The French art of living has its website Live in France like the French

STORY

PICTO CURIEUX Created with Sketch.

A journey through time and history

Did you know that the Louvre had several lives before it became the world's most visited museum? Defensive fortress, royal castle, palace at the heart of revolutions: if the monument now occupies a major place in the history of art, the one it has held in the history of Paris is just as important. This is illustrated by the new virtual reality experience offered by Viality Tour.

When the Louvre was not yet a museum

After the Eiffel Tower, the team of enthusiasts at Viality Tour set their sights on another French landmark: the Louvre. And, as with the Iron Lady, it's from the angle of its genesis, and in situ, that they invite the curious on a rich journey through time. 

For total immersion, the buildings that have made up the current museum over the centuries can be discovered from the Cour Carrée or the Tuileries Gardens. More precisely, this journey through time takes us to the heart of 4 distinct periods:

  • The Middle Ages, with the 1st fortress built by Philippe Auguste in the 12th century. The 7th King of the Capetian dynasty encircled Paris with a wall to protect the new French capital and, at the time, the most populous city in the West. In the virtual experience, you live alongside soldiers on guard and servants in charge of running the site, where royalty did not yet reside.
  • This was the case from the 14th century onwards, when Charles V had an impressive library built on the site.
    Maintained by scholars and monks, it was certainly frequented by Christine de Pizan, the 1st French woman of letters, whom we come across, well-equipped with our VR helmets, on this stroll through the former defensive building turned royal castle. 

  • We move forward in time to the Renaissance, where Vladina, the Viality Tour guide always present alongside the 21st-century teleporters, retraces the eventful regency of Catherine de Médicis. 
    It's an opportunity to see her Palais des Tuileries under construction and, unlike her, to admire the finished edifice.

  • In the 4th and final stage of our journey into the Louvre's past, we meet up with this palace when the sans-culottes of 1792 bloodily confronted the royal guards, then when other revolutionaries, the Communards, set fire to it in 1871. The monument disappeared in the flames, and with it the “grand design” desired by Henri IV (only realized under Napoleon III) of a grand Louvre grouping all its buildings together in a harmonious whole.

Ready to step back in time?

To embark on this adventure where history is dusted off thanks to new technologies, it's very simple: go to the Viality Tour website.
Please note: the tour lasts around 1h15 and is available in groups of 10 from Thursday to Monday (with different time slots each day). It's accessible to people with disabilities and to children aged 8 and over.

And everyone can take advantage of this experience combining the real and the virtual to ask questions of Vladina, who, in addition to the 4 historical episodes recreated in VR, is an invaluable guide to the Louvre. A must-see monument that you won't look at in the same way after 😊.

Good discovery.


PS : if after this dive into the history of the monument you'd like to discover the masterpieces it houses, another passionate guide awaits you for a private tour of the Louvre.

Valérie from Comme des Français



----

Want to discover history in a different way?