After visiting Sainte Chapelle I continued to La Conciergerie and refreshed my knowledge of the French Revolution. It was very interesting to see the prison where 4,000 condemned victims of the Terror were incarcerated and in most cases executed a day after the verdict. Marie Antoinette was one of them, her cell had been recreated and later on the expiation chapel was constructed in her honor at the place where she had received the last rites. The exit from the Marie Antoinette‘s chapel leads to the Women’s Courtyard, which was more interesting for me to see than her cell. She was a very ordinary woman, nothing too special about her, but a lot of stories could be told about young Charlotte Corday, who dared to assassinate Marat single-handedly and has miraculously succeeded; otherwise, it would have been more blood, more work for the executioner and his loyal partner, the Guillotine, more horrific death. For those who are interested in the French Revolution visiting La Conciergerie is a must.
We had high hopes for this tour given its incredible history. However, the tour itself was extremely disappointing. We were never given a brochure with a map or any explanations of the site. Instead, we were shown to a bin for the pick up of an e-tablet and given no instructions on its use or on touring the site. After experimenting with it in the cavernous entrance hall on the first level, and repeatedly running into the same on-tablet explanations, we found a brochure and returned the tablets. However, without a clear tour map to locate the points of interest our tour found us searching for the numbers on the brochure and then reading the sparse explanations provided. What a contrast to the Versailles audio guide tour which allowed us to punch in the number shown in a given room and listen to a thorough historical explanation. It became increasingly frustrating to not have a tour path to follow as we wandered around trying not to miss any displays. So much potential for this site but it turned out to be one of the lamest exhibition efforts in Paris. Also, no control over the loud, obnoxious school tour groups roaming the facility.
The most remarkable sites were Marie Antoinettes prison cell, however I was expecting to see the wax figure if her which is no longer there, but overall everything very well organized with La Vacanza Travel.
Never got tickets. Contacted La Vacanza Travel they said no refunds. SHAMEFUL BUSINESS PRACTICES. I will file a complaint with Better Business Bureau.
We had to wait for more than an hour in the queue - and were not let in at our pre booked time! The iPad kind of info is very confusing and not easy to follow. It should be explained to the visitor beforehand. The rooms associated with o Marie antoinnette were too dark and the wall panels impossible to read. This place really is just terribly poorly designed from a visitors point of view and should be redone!