The Paris mayor's office set up an outdoor exhibition at the Bastille recounting events that took place on the site of the famous prison. Most people know that the Bastille was stormed during the French Revolution of 1789, but not many people are aware of other important events that took place before and after the Revolution.

Aldo takes us to a very special house on 23 Rue Beauregard in Paris. In that house lived a shady character, Catherine Deshayes, who was responsible for the murder of thousands of infants. She and 36 others were burned at the stake by Louis XIV.

Paris would be an entirely different city today if the architect Le Corbusier had carried out his ambitious project for the capital. But Minister of Culture André Malraux put a stop to this and set out to preserve the historic heritage of Paris by introducing a new law. Find out what Paris could have looked like in this video!

Lionel Brigeot takes us to the northeast of France to the town of Verdun, where the famous Battle of Verdun took place during World War I. Follow Lionel up the Victory Steps, commemorating the battle in which more than one hundred sixty-three thousand soldiers lost their lives.

Part two of this video on "La Marseillaise" explains how it evolved from a song of war and freedom to its current status as the French national anthem. The fact remains that it still stirs up controversy for its violent content, which some find offensive.

Patricia discusses the history of the the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise," explaining how the song traveled from the Rhine region to Marseille, where it earned its final name.
She even sings a few lines of the song for us!

In this video, you will learn the history of the French flag. Once it was completely white, the color of the French royalty, and now it's blue, white, and red. The French flag has recently been tainted with controversy by nationalist groups who have appropriated it as a symbol of their own causes.

In the final installment of his tour of Compiègne, Daniel takes us to the "Haras National" (National Stud Farm), where some of the most prestigious horses in France have been raised since the 1700s. He also shows us the Imperial Theater, built by Napoleon III, and the Museum of Internment and Deportation, which commemorates the prisoners of the Royallieu concentration camp.

As Daniel explains, Joan of Arc is a bit of an "obsession" among French people, and tributes to her can be found in many towns across France. Compiègne has particularly close ties to the country's patron saint—after assisting the town in its fight against the Burgundians, she was captured by them in 1430.

It's been said that Paris is the most romantic city in the world. In this video, you will discover the origin of the word "romantic" and learn about the romanticism movement, which originated not from France as one might expect, but from England and Germany and later took hold in France.

This video is all about the people of France, from the ancient Franks and Gauls to the present-day population, which currently numbers over sixty-six million inhabitants.

Cortés sets out to conquer Mexico with his four hundred men, sixteen horses, and seven cannons. He is joined later by native forces, the Totonac warriors.

Tension is building between the Aztecs and the Spaniards, not to mention within Cortés's own ranks. Despite this, the conquistador rallies his troops to conquer Mexico.

Cortés exchanges gifts with the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma. An excellent diplomatic move on both sides!

Cortés is negotiating with the friendly natives of Mexico with the help of his interpreter, who had been shipwrecked in a previous expedition and speaks Mayan. They are offered a young woman slave, Malintzin, who speaks Mayan and Aztec.

November 18, 1518... Cortés, the ambitious adventurer, sets out to discover and conquer the unknown empire of Mexico at daybreak before Velasquez has a chance to stop him.

The Aztecs are apprehensive about the arrival of the white men. It is a bad omen. Spanish conqueror Cortés is appointed Captain and will be heading toward new territories.

The Maestro recounts the events just before Ferdinand Magellan's untimely death in 1521, only a year after he discovered the passage that would allow him to circumnavigate the globe.

This new episode of "Il était une fois..." covers Cortés and the Aztecs. The story starts in 1519, when Ferdinand Magellan attempts to circumnavigate the earth. His ship makes it as far as Brazil.

James Bruce, the intrepid Scottish explorer, finally reaches his goal, the source of the Nile... or so he thought. After all his trouble, his exploits are not well received in England. But his legacy will live on.

After curing the queen mother's grandchildren of smallpox, James Bruce meets with the Ethiopian emperor, Tekle Haymanot, to tell him of his plans to discover the source of the Nile. But he soon finds out that he'll have to demonstrate his warrior skills if he wants to reach Lake Tana.

The explorers arrive at Gondar, the former imperial capital of Ethiopia, and marvel at the wonders of the palace. But a deadly illness is threatening the lives of the children of the royal family...

The explorers discover Abyssinia and the customs of its inhabitants, who have been cut off from the rest of the world for centuries. Will their visit bring a clash of cultures or a peaceful understanding? Find out in this episode.

As James Bruce and his crew arrive in Massawa in hopes of meeting the king, they are thwarted by the king's messenger, who was ordered not to let in any foreigners. But since the royal palace is in need of a doctor, and Bruce happens to be one, he may be forced to make an exception....