Two trips took W.A. Mozart to France, where he met King Louis XV and Louis XVI. Mozart visited Paris as a child and again as a young man. His mother died on July 3, 1778 during his second trip to Paris. W.A. Mozart visited a total of 18 cities on his journey to and from Paris. His very first compositions (K.6,7 and K. 8,9) were printed in Paris.

MOZART CITIES:
Bergues - Bonavis - Calais - Cambrai - Clermont-en-Argonne - Dijon - Dunkerque - Gournay-sur-Aronde - Lìlle - Lyon - Metz - Nancy - Paris - Saint-Germain-en Laye - Strassbourg - Vallenciennes - Versailles

RECOMMENDATION	In Mozart's footsteps  through France
1st / 2nd day Paris  Info
3rd day Nancy
4th day Strasbourg  Info
5th / 6th day Lyon
7th day Versailles/Paris  Info

 
Two times W.A. Mozart travelled to France, where he stayed in total for 12 months. During their extensive trip through Western Europe (1763 - 1766) the family came to France for the first time.

In a carriage of their own they crossed the French border in mid of November 1763. November 18 they reached Paris. Shortly they were invited to the king's palace at Versailles. Returned to Paris Leopold presented his child prodigy to the society parisienne.

Wolfgang and his two years older sister Nannerl performed for the nobility of the City. Two Mozart portraits were painted in Paris and he composed his piano sonatas K. 6, 7, 8 and 9. These are also the first printed compositions.

After two trips to Great Britain and the Netherlands the Mozart family returns in July 1766 for some days to Paris. The way home went via Dijon to Lyon. There they stayed for one month and on the way back to Salzburg they passed through Switzerland and the southern part of today's Germany.

The second trip to France Wolfgang was accompanied by his mother. He was 22 years old and just had quitted his job at the Salzburg archbishop searching for a new employment. From Mannheim he travelled to France and via Reims to Paris. There he composed several of his most beautiful music pieces: K. 264, 265, 297, 297b, 298, 299, 299b, 300, 305, 306, 310, 311a, 316, 330, 331, 333, 353, 354. But Mozart did not feel well at Paris. Then his mother became ill and died on July 3 1778. Her grave is located at the St. Eustache cemetery. At the end of September Mozart left Paris and returned via Nancy and Strasbourg back to Mannheim.