Plan to arrive at 2:15pm for this 2:30pm guided visit in English at the Musée de l'Histoire de l'Immigration, a magnificent art deco building recently renovated and expanded, for an eye opening visit about the History of French immigration.
The history of immigration to France is a fascinating tapestry of human mobility and cultural integration from ancient and medieval times to the aftermath of the colonial era when the French empire spanned Africa, Asia and the Americas. The end of World War II also prompted a rise in immigration mainly from Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal. All these factors and many others have transformed France into the culturally diverse nation with many distinct ethnic communities which it is today. In addition, the museum shows how political migrants and asylum seekers from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, Afghanistan and Syria, and Eastern Europe, later sought refuge in France, playing a significant role in shaping French immigration.
