On today’s walking tour, we explored key locations of where significant events took place in regard to the French Revolution. We started at the statue of Danton, a rising middle class man, who took advantage of the revolution to rise in status. It was quite interesting to learn about him and his seemingly unlucky childhood – when he was trampled on his face, got his lip ripped open by a bull, and a smashed nose- then later to hear about the active role he played in the revolution by using his intimidating appearance and knowledge from being a lawyer to further the cause. Not only that, but also visiting the locations where he once was, like the café where both him and Napoleon visited for instance was fascinating.

However, the part of the tour I found to be the most intriguing was our tour of the Church of Saint Sulpice. As much as I have learned over the years about the French Revolution and its views on religion in that time period, I did not know that the people who rejected Catholicism turned to worshipping multiple gods, similar to the Greeks. Not only that, but they would also hold these services in worship of these gods outside of the Catholic buildings and in public spaces in protest of the Catholic church. It was also surprising to find that they tried to remove all traces of the previous regime, like removing saints from the name of streets, even in this very church, which brings me to my favorite part of the building. This part is a sign over the center of the main entrance, which reads “Le Peuple Francais Reconnoit L’Etre Suprême Et L’Immortalité de L’Âme.” This translate to “The French people recognize the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul.” I was astonished that it survived the revolution, especially because the people made it their point of duty to remove anything that remotely resembles any support of Catholicism. At first, I thought that the revolutionaries did not remove it because it could be part of their belief, but as I stated before they believed in multiple gods; therefore, the sign would not have the supreme being, it would most likely be beings or not have that in term in there at all. Aside from that, I like the quote in and of itself for reasons I am not entirely sure about.