Matthieu Priore, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: Maylis Rolland / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 19:12 pm, August 07, 2023

As the second week of August begins, Europe 1 introduces the key professions of the summer season. Starting with that of tourist guide, popular with visitors to a city or region. In Paris, the "professional tour guide" Paule Valois shares her knowledge of the monuments of the Ile de la Cité.

"We're going to go to the Ile de la Cité, I'll explain the visit more precisely," says Paule Valois, a tour guide in Paris. At the beginning of August, Europe 1 shines the spotlight on the flagship professions of the summer, such as that of this "professional tour guide" who "organizes neighborhood visits" in the capital. With her clients, she first stops in front of the courthouse, located on this island in the heart of the city. "When the sword is raised, it is that justice will fall, it is a threat. When the sword is placed on the ground, it means that justice is done," she said.

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"Before the sentence, we go through this door, and there is another one with the sword," asks one of the visitors of the session. "Exactly," the tour guide agrees.

"I have always liked to pass on my knowledge"

The small troop arrives at the foot of 36, quai des Orfèvres, "the place where the judicial police was created. On the docks next door, there was a poultry market. That's why Parisians used to call the police chickens, and the name stuck," says Paule Valois. At the microphone of Europe 1, one of the participants in this visit is delighted: "It's interesting to share with the person who knows the story, who explains... By the way, you don't see all the meanings."

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And the tour guide appreciates being able to share her knowledge. "All this knowledge of history that I have acquired, I have always liked to pass it on. I think guide is a wonderful way to do it and it puts all the monuments in their historical context."