Retracing the Footsteps of Famous Women in French History

Women of Paris, a tour company created and curated by British ex-pat Heidi Evans, is giving a long overdue voice and recognition to the women who helped shape the capital of France. In a podcast interview with Paris is just not that into you, Heidi revealed that her months-long experience working as a tour guide in Paris brought to her attention that much of the information relayed to curious tourists was heavily male-centric. That is, the narrative focused on the great men of French history, such as Napoleon, Louis XIV, and Monet. However, none of the tours giving an overview of the history of Paris spoke about women at large, and when the narrative did include them, it tarnished their reputation by portraying them as either muses or bad women. This grossly neglected their contributions to the cultural, social, and economic fabrics of Paris. Through carefully curated tour walks and special collaborations with other women in business, such as female wine producers and market business owners, Women of Paris not only creates an awareness of silenced or unheard of powerful women, but they also use their platform to empower and raise awareness of the women contributing to today’s Paris. 

In January 2020, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Essential Walk, the signature three-hour long tour thoughtfully designed to give tourists a more general overview of French women’s history. The walk paints a picture of the fantastic lives of queens and women at the forefront of academic discoveries, activism, politics, and arts and culture. Although the rain and heavy wind of that late afternoon would normally have me seeking a nook inside one of the many Parisian cafés, the story-telling structure of the tour and our guide’s notable passion for history brought life to these locations and captivated my mind long enough for me to stop fighting the wind with my flimsy umbrella. 

As we walked along the streets of the Left Bank, I couldn’t help but notice that their fantastic lives, which society riddled with obstacles just because they tried to make a name for themselves, resonated with the social climate of 40 and 20 years ago, and in some cases—although progress is slowly happening—of today. This is unsettling. These women were going out there and doing their thing, and what did they get in return? A constant reminder that any recognition they rightfully deserved could be tarnished and discredited by veiling their successes with words like mistress, seductress, scandalous, and foreigner. It’s disgusting! But it’s the kind of disgust that, with the proper tools, such as learning about the other side of history with a gender-equal narrative, can help everyone become aware of this repetitive behavior and do something about it. So, in addition to raising awareness of the women who were a part of the Paris of years ago and today, Women of Paris also armorizes tourists, who, as outsiders, have more freedom to be rebellious in their questioning and to push cultural and social barriers. With a woman-centric narrative, they can then use it as inspiration to question their own cities’ misrepresentation or marginalization of girl bosses in history.