English version: My walking tours in Paris

The tours last between 2 and 3 hours.

Cost: on request

Stops at some interesting cafe for coffee or a light meal are included at the clients cost if desired.

 

MOST REQUESTED TOURS:

 - Montmartre, the old village with its cobbled streets, vineyards, sinuous streets, unknown passages.  A picturesque walk from the Bateau Lavoir where Picasso invented cubism to the Place du Tertre, the Sacré Coeur and the oldest church in Paris, and  on the way, the Maison Rose celebrated by Suzanne Valadon and Utrillo and the Lapin Agile, one of the oldest cabarets in Paris.

- The old Marais, a beautifully preserved district with the most elegant medieval and post Renaissance mansions built by the fashionable nobility of the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Danielle’s commentary will evoke the lives and times. You will see the places where the history of France suddenly changed its course, where some of the most dramatic moments of the Revolution took place.  The beautiful place des Vosges is on the way as well as the old Jewish area.

- The Jewish history in the old Paris and Le Marais, a walk which will take you from the portals of Notre Dame to the Jewish Marais. You will learn the history of the Jews in Paris, the anti-Semitism as well as how they became successful traders. Included is the world famous synagogue of the rue Pavée, the rue des Rosiers. France’s once not talked about involvement in the transportation of Jews to the Concentration Camps will be explored, ending at the poignant Memorial to those deported.  We will evoke the expulsions and the immigrations of the Jews in Paris from the Middle Ages to our times. We will also admire, in the forecourt of the Museum of Jewish Art, the strange modern sculpture of Dreyfus.

After the tour you will be at liberty to visit the interior of the museum at your leisure.

- Around the Parc Monceau, on one side of the parc Monceau, you will discover the funny mansions of the actresses and cabaret dancers, of the writers and musicians, the salons they opened with the help of their rich supporters and which were, in the second half of the 19th century, the place to be. On the other side, the high society of bankers of the same period. You will have an insight into the lives of the Camondos, the Ephrussis, the Rothschilds, not to forget the neo Renaissance hostels of the Menier family. A tour which will take you back to a way of life, a dolce vita,  that has disappeard forever swept away by WW2.

After the visit you will be able to visit the Hotel Camondo whose rooms, 18th century decoration and objets have been preserved exactly the way they were on the day the last of the Camondos died.

- The five most beautiful arcades of Paris. A dive into the late 18th and early 19th century life in Paris and how people then wee able to walk from a quarter to another without getting wet and have a bath on the way. The Paris of Balzac will be revisited. You will learn the history of the Palais Royal  which was said to be the centre of everything that happened in paris and where everything, yes everything you wanted could be found. You will find out about the first public transports and the origin of the word "bus", you will be transported into the panoramas, ancestors of the cinema and you will discover some of the most beautiful mosaic pavements in Paris.

- Le Louvre Museum and its masterpieces. Our tour will take us from the reamains recently dug out of the medieval fortress of the 12th century to the celebrated materpieces. We will see the Renaissance ballroom and its Roman sculptures, the greek sculptures, the quattrocento paintings, including, of course Mona Lisa, the large French paintings of the 19th century and we will end the tour with Michelangelo and his captives.

This is mainly a private tour.

Of course, on request we can visit other paintings or rooms if you so wish.

The ordinary tour lasts about 2h. We can make it longer or shorter according to demand.

-Nissim de Camondo Museum. Moise de Camondo's magnificent collection of 18th century art, furniture, objects, set in the house where he used to live with his family until 1935 when he donated to the State to make it into a museum in the name of his son killed in 1917 during the war. The will said it had to be left in the exact organisation that he left it the day of his death. You will feel as though you were entering the intimacy of the family about to welcome you. At the same time you will be able to admire the unlikely pieces that Moise collected most of his life making it the masterpiece of his lifetime.

- Luxury and the history of the Paris Right bank. From the Pont des Arts to Place de la Concorde, view the many great monuments and places created by the Kings and the Emperors. They were the creators of the City of Light. Their names: Louis XIV, Napoleon 1st, Napoleon III and their famous architects and urbanists. What would Paris be without Haussmann, the prefect who drew Paris in the second half of the 19t century. The luxury shops in the beautiful Place Vendome will not be forgotten and some magnificent views will be offered to your eyes in the Rue Royale and from the Tuileries Gardens.

Other tours on request:

- The Ile St Louis

- The Latin Quarter

- The 6^th Arrondissement and the Revolution

- Writers and characters in the 5th arrondissement - A walk around rue Mouffetard

- From rue Laffitte to rue La Bruyère - A 19th c Jewish microcosm in the 9th arrondissement

- The Tuileries Gardens

- The Opera

- The St Denis basilica

- Le Louvre and its highlights (2 hour tour)

- Orsay Museum and its highlights (2 hour tour)

- Montparnasse

- Auteuil - art nouveau, art deco

- The Cognac Jay Museum and life in the 18th c 

- The Père Lachaise cemetary 

- The Museum of Jewish art

- The 19th arrondissement - a patchwork of cultures and urbanism. (this tour can be made with a specific Jewish interest)

 And many other tours which you can find on my page in French: Les visites que nous referons. They can all be ordered in English

 

Get in touch with me:
Tel mobile: +33616908145
email: leparisdedaniellem@gmail.com