Paris International: Paris beyond the monuments

<BODY><H1>Private guides for individuals or small groups</H1> <H3 STYLE="text-align:left; color:#036;">See Paris at your own pace with a personal guide who speaks your language!</H3> <P CLASS=firstpar>For those who know Paris and have already exhausted the famous monuments, there is more to see! We offer themed tours of Paris to give visitors a taste of some of the undiscovered delights of Paris, in either the city or the surrounding countryside. You will spend a morning or afternoon with a friendly, knowledgeable expert, discovering an aspect of the city that you would enjoy.</P> <P CLASS=body><B>Below are 18 themed tours of Paris that we propose to more seasoned visitors. If there is something that interests you that is not mentioned here, please contact us and we will make it happen!</P> <P CLASS=body>1. Paris Architecture - Whether you are a student, a professional, or an architecture buff, we can customize this tour to fit your desires and interests. Paris by Jean Nouvel, Baron Von Haussman, Le Corbusier and others… modern, gothic, medieval and more, your itinerary is up to you and your professional guide! Who built all this, why, when? Ask all the questions you want… Don’t forget to bring your cameras!</P> <P CLASS=body>2. French cooking class with renowned Parisian chefs - You have a half-day free, you love French cuisine, and you would like to learn how to prepare one or two of your favourite French dishes? We have a great idea for you! Come and join a class of French haute cuisine with a renowned chef in Paris. There you will learn some of his cooking secrets and tips as you prepare three dishes. Our chefs have worked for all the famous gastronomic restaurants of Paris such as Joël Robuchon, and the restaurants of The Ritz, Le Crillon, and Plaza Athénée hotels (many with 3-star Michelin ranking). You will be part of a group of up to 12 people, but usually the groups are smaller. The course will be in English. For this 3-hour course you will learn how to prepare three dishes: an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert, for a complete 3-course meal. You will start from the raw ingredients, step by step, to the final 3-course meal, ready to eat. If you have a favourite dish you would like to learn, we will try to accommodate your request with the chef. Your cooking class can be in the morning at 10am, in the afternoon at around 2:30pm, or in the evening from 6pm. Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes in advance. It will be held at a specially-designed, fully-equipped cooking workshop in central Paris. These classes are highly in demand, so please try to book as early as possible, for example 10-15 days before the date you wish to reserve your cooking course. After your class, you can enjoy your hot, finished meal on the spot in a nice dining hall, or take it home. This cooking class is sure to remain a memorable experience that you can use to amaze your friends for dinner parties to come.</p> <P CLASS=body>3. Wine Tasting: Learn the Vocabulary, Traditions and Vintages - Even with a base knowledge of wine, it can be hard to describe them. You’ll learn to tell the differences between aromas, the terminology to describe them, and how to read “behind the label”. Just as important, you’ll enjoy each of these wines in their appropriate glasses, goblets, and flutes, and you will learn the mysterious technique of “retro-olfaction”. Your wine tasting session is complemented by plates of fine cheeses and smoked meats. Your sommelier will accompany you during the tasting of three to seven wines, ensuring a wide variety of wines for the beginner as well as the connaisseur.</P> <P CLASS=body>4. Literature: Café hopping, expatriate style! Visit the celebrated haunts, houses and resting places of Henry Miller, June Mansfield, Anaïs Nin, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Man Ray, Kiki de Montparnasse, Picasso, the Fitzgeralds and many of the other colorful figures that peopled the streets of Paris in the roaring ’20s. Your tour will take you by Gertrude Stein’s home, the famous “Bricktops” in Montmartre, Rue de la Huchette (well known for its brothels), the Shakespeare Co. bookshop, and the infamous cafés; Café de la Rotonde, Les Deux Magots, Le Dôme, La Coupole, la Closerie des Lilas… you’ve read all about it, now it’s time to live it!.</P> <P CLASS=body>5. Photo tour of Paris - Visit corners of Paris from where you can take the most perfect and professional photos, ones that you’ll remember forever.</P> <P CLASS=body>6. Da Vinci Code Paris - “The da Vinci Code”, the controversial thriller by Dan Brown starts in Paris, and the first half of the novel takes place in the City of Lights. With your private guide, you will retrace Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu’s footsteps as they decipher clues hidden in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpieces: the Ritz Hotel, la Grande Galerie du Musée du Louvre, where fictional curator Jacques Saunière was murdered, works of art such as the Mona Lisa and The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci, the Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio, l’arc du Carousel, pont du Carousel, the frescoes by Eugène Delacroix, the ceiling, the astronomical gnomen, and the “brass Line” inside Saint-Sulpice Church, and the jardin des Tuileries. You’ll find the Arago plaques (pictured at left) that mark Paris’ “Rose Line”, the north–south meridional line from which all east–west distances in France were measured until 1884. Search for the holy grail in I.M. Pei’s Inverted Pyramid… Author Dan Brown maintains that “all descriptions of artwork, architecture, in the book are accurate”… Find out for yourself where the truth stops and the fiction begins!</P> <P CLASS=body>7. An Historical Tour of Paris - Choose a king or a period in history and we will show you the places where history was written, for example: World War II, The French Revolution, Louis XIV. For example: If you’re passionate about history, this is the tour for you! Visit the site where the Tennis Court Oath and the Declaration of the Rights of Man were signed, re-enact the fall of the Bastille and the September massacres and visit the favorite haunts of the Jacobins and the Sans Culottes. A thrilling and original way to spend a day in Paris.</P> <P CLASS=body>8. Biographical tour - is there a famous person from Paris who interests you? You can follow in their footsteps; find out where they lived, their favourite haunts and where they are buried. For example: Your guide will pick you up from the hotel and will start the tour in the popular district of Paris where Edith Piaf was born and where her singing career began. There, you will visit Edith Piaf Museum which hosts collections of her dresses, personal things, letters and photos. A few streets away, in the bar dedicated to the singer you can enjoy a coffee whilst admiring the many pictures and photos that tell a fascinating story of Piaf’s life. In front of the café you will be surprised to see an original sculpture of this tiny and fragile person. You will visit t he grave of dith Piaf at famous Père Lachaise Cemetery, always covered with flowers and small personal things left out by the admirers of the Legend. You will find the places which still remember her voice, from the narrow backstreet pavements to the glorious cabarets of Champs-Élysées.</P> <P CLASS=body>9. The districts of Paris: China Town, Little India, Goutte d'Or, etc. Paris is a truly multi-cultural city; find out the history these cultural epicentres.</P> <P CLASS=body>10. Shop ’til You Drop - Start off on rue Etienne Marcel where you will find a host of unique boutiques (Barbara Bui, Cacharel, Paul Joe, le Shop…) for cutting-edge fashions and accessories. Lunch at the fashionable Barbara Bui Café (price for lunch not included), before heading to rue St-Honoré where you can check out the upscale boutiques, luxury jewelers and “Colette”, Paris’ leading concept shop. Then it’s time to see and be seen at the Buddha Bar before heading to the Champs-Élysées for the Grand Finale. No lugging your packages around either—you can leave them in the car with your private chauffeur!</P> <P CLASS=body>11. Fashion in Paris - High fashion, editorial shoots, catwalks, fashion museum (Fashion through the Ages) and, of course, we’ll take you to the best places for shopping!</P> <P CLASS=body>12. French Cuisine - Cheese, wine cellars, champagne, chocolates, patisseries, etc. Traditional French food, listed as “world intangible heritage” by UNESCO in 2010, has its own history and we can help you discover it here in Paris.</P> <P CLASS=body>13. Ethnic breakfast tour - Make sure to skip the hotel breakfast on the day you take this scrumptious tour! Japanese pastries on the rue St-Florentin, Jewish pastries in the Marais, Arabic sweets and mint tea in the “Grand Mosquée de Paris” and a grande finale at “La Durée” on rue Royale to savor Paris’ finest macaroons. A soothing way to start the day.</P> <P CLASS=body>14. The military tour of Paris - Memorials, Military Academy of Paris, Musée Invalides, etc.</P> <P CLASS=body>15. Art - Find out how Paris inspires artists; visit an art school or a secret museum in Paris, and maybe have a go yourself. For example: Secret Museums, a great idea, especially for Sundays when many things are closed in Paris. Discover the Musée d’Ennery with over 7,000 objects from China and Japan, the Museum of French monuments with its eerie statues and sculptures, the Jacquemart-André museum with wonderful art from the 18th century, the Gustave Moreau museum for its fantastic symbolist collection as well as the Police Museum. We suggest lunching at “Georges” at the top of the Pompidou Center.</P> <P CLASS=body>16. Music - visit the undiscovered clubs and basement bars where the musicians played before they were famous.</P> <P CLASS=body>17. Dance - Royal ballet school, take a one-hour class, attend a ballet or even see some Degas paintings.</P> <P CLASS=body>18. Paris by bicycle/green Paris/parks and gardens of Paris - Visit some of the calmest and most beautiful parts of this bustling city, and keep it green.</P> </BODY>