Just to the right of the superb wrought iron door of Studio 80, the former cinema turned rock concert hall at No. 81 sits almost unnoticed. Yet it was in this house, on the night of 25 April 1792, that Claude Joseph Rouget de l'Isle composed a song. It was originally called Chant de Guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin (War Song for the Army of the Rhine), as war with Austria had just been declared. The song was performed the following day at the mayor's residence, and taken up again three months later in Paris by volunteer fighters from Marseille... which led the song to be renamed La Marseillaise. And of course, it later became the French national anthem. If you fancy singing the song, head to Place Broglie, in front of the Banque de France. This was the residence of Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich, the mayor of Strasbourg who inspired Rouget de l'Isle to write the inappropriately named Marseillaise.
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