The covered galleries were in vogue at the beginning of the 19th century, they made it possible to do your shopping while being protected from bad weather, mud and the danger of the Parisian streets. The tour will start at the new bridge, at the foot of the statue of Henri IV. The Pont Neuf or Pont-Neuf is, despite its name, the oldest existing bridge in Paris.We will head towards the Paris Stock Exchange: a circular building surmounted by a dome. At the approximate location was the Hôtel de Soissons which belonged, at the beginning of the 13th century, to Jean II de Nesles.We will then reach the Vero-Dodat passage. In 1826, two investors, the charcutier Benoît Véro and the financier Dodat, had this neo-classical passageway built between the Palais-Royal and the Halles. It offered a pleasant shortcut between these two places, which were very popular at the time, and was quickly adopted by the public We will continue with the Palais Royal which holds an important place in the history of France and Parisian life with three centuries of architecture. . We will thus arrive at the Galerie Vivienne. It was built in 1823 and was originally called the “Galerie Marchoux” but before its inauguration in 1826 it was quickly renamed “Galerie Vivienne”, because this gallery connects rue Vivienne and rue des petits champs. Its success comes above all from its location, because it allows easy access to the galleries of the royal palace, these galleries are in the 19th century a high place of celebration, gambling and prostitution. We will finally cross the Passage Des Panoramas. This passage built in 1799 is one of the oldest covered passages in Paris. The next passage will be the Passage Jouffroy built in 1845. . We will arrive at the Passage Verdeau, opened in 1846 by the Société du Passage Jouffroy, it was named after one of the members of this society. We will end this walking tour near the Grands Magasins, on the famous Boulevard Haussmann, named after the famous Baron Haussmann, then prefect of Paris and who transformed the City under the Second Empire.
