The Origins of Paris: we tested the virtual reality experience on the banks of the Seine

There's a whole host of new ways to discover the capital from a different angle, through the centuries! Outdoors, you can already take advantage of virtual reality to step back in time in front of the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, but this time you're invited to embark on the Seine with Timescope, to survey its banks through the greatest eras of Parisian history.

An experience along the banks of the Seine, a UNESCO World Heritage site, from the Pont Louis-Philippe to the Pont Neuf.

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With your virtual reality headset, take a look at what the banks of our river looked like, from the earliest Parisian settlements to the French Revolution, via the Viking siege, the construction of Notre-Dame and the 1910 flood, for a one-hour immersion in our shared past, made possible thanks to the work of a scientific committee and specialized historians, based on various archives (plans, testimonials, iconographic documents).

15 VR capsules await you, with 360° images and immersive sound, accompanied in the real world by a guide to playfully rediscover the capital's history, at each seminal moment, exactly where it happened. You'll have to walk a total of 1.2 km, so bring comfortable shoes, even if you'll be stopping regularly to view the different scenes as you go. It's an experience for families aged 8 and over!

A very pleasant experience, perfect for strolling along the quays of the Seine through the centuries, with a little coolness on hot days. You move slowly from bridge to bridge, without your helmet on, and stop at strategic points to put it on, where you discover the version of yesteryear, so you can easily compare it with the present!

And the vignettes are sometimes too short: we'd like to see more and have a little more time to discover all the little details, beautifully staged and with excellent visual quality.

As usual with these experiences, if you're prone to vertigo, a few rare scenes can be disturbing when flying over the capital, but this doesn't last long and you can remove your helmet. Likewise, the flooding of the Seine can be seen from within, as the river rises, which can be uncomfortable for those afraid of drowning, for example.

For our part, we found this immersion (it's a good way of putting it!) particularly successful, since it's a viewpoint that's never available during floods!

In addition to your virtual reality mask, you'll be wearing headphones on your ears. It's a little less practical than the integrated sound, but it allows for a good immersion in the sounds of a capital city of the past, more or less noisy depending on the era! Please note that it's impossible to fit sunglasses into the VR headset, so you'll need to remove them during the capsules.

Over the course of nearly an hour, you'll learn a host of anecdotes, come face to face with a time when Paris was nothing more than a swamp, watch children skate on the Seine and women go out alone at night as soon as the streetlamps appear, while following the construction of Notre-Dame de Paris or the fire that ravaged the Pont au Change, where many Parisians lived when the city was overcrowded.

It's an adventure that's well worth the detour, and always teaches us more about a capital we thought we knew by heart! It's sure to please tourists and city lovers alike.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.