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Perhaps you plan to stay overnight in Paris en route to another destination and would like to do something special for the afternoon and/or evening before continuing your journey. Or perhaps you intend to visit Paris for a few days and would like to plan something unusual for several hours on one or two days, leaving the rest of your schedule open. Discover Paris!TM is happy to propose activities for just such circumstances.
Just as you would select individual items from an à la carte menu at a restaurant, Paris à la carte allows you to select one or more of a series of activities to enjoy in Paris. They include:
Private shopping tours -
Designer clothes, French name brand discount clothes, designer resale clothes, fashion jewelry, fashion accessories, perfume, shoes, gourmet food, gifts, children’s clothing , flea market shopping… Our guide will meet you at your hotel and take you to the best places to shop for the items that you seek. Send us your shopping requirements, the number of persons in your party, the dates that you will be in Paris, and the name and address of the hotel at which you will be staying. Upon receipt of your message, we will determine availability of our guide and send you a price quote.
Private guide for art exhibitions -
Our trilingual, nationally-certified guide will accompany you to museums, providing commentary on the collections that you view there.
Private walking tours of various sites and neighborhoods in Paris, including:
Christian history in Paris with your own personal guide
Early Christian history begins in Paris in the third century A.D. when a certain Denis, sent by Pope Fabian to evangelize Roman Gaul, was seized by the Romans and martyred around 275. Since that time, the Christian movement has left a large number of physical monuments, as well as legends and many still-unresolved enigmas.
We offer a leisurely walk (two to three hours, with breaks possible along the way) through central Paris to introduce you to vestiges of all three of these categories. Points on the itinerary, which can be modified to suit your tastes and interests, include:
The Abbaye de Saint-Germain des Prés (Saint Herman in the Fields Abbey). Vestiges of this abbey, a veritable economic enterprise of its time, date from the 6th, 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Apart from its Christian history, the abbey was also veiled in legends and mysteries, including some that involve the cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis.
The miraculous legend and church of Saint-Julien le Pauvre (Saint Julian the Poor). Consecrated in 1240, it is considered the oldest complete extant church in central Paris.
A “reading” of the Bible stories and apocryphal imagery illustrated in the bas reliefs decorating Notre Dame Cathedral.
The Sainte Chapelle, a Gothic wonder built in less than a decade during the 13th century by King Louis IX (Saint Louis) to host relics of Christ’s Passion.
Liberation of Paris (the momentous week of 19-25 August 1944) with your own personal guide
Visit the sites “where the action was”; hear factual explanations and some alternative interpretations where uncertainties (and enigmas) remain to this day; see portraits of major actors and – yes – hear a few humorous (!) anecdotes that bring the Liberation’s human as well as political and military story alive.
The itinerary, which can be modified according to your interests, includes the following:
The Ministry of War, where, on the night of August 25th-26th (after the Germans had surrendered), a disgusted General de Gaulle watched the Luftwaffe bomb civilian targets in Paris, killing 213 and wounding 914.
Anecdotes concerning the surrender of German troops at the National Assembly and Quai d’Orsay, and how a Free French Sherman tank escaped annihilation in the Tuileries Gardens.
A view of the Hôtel Meurice, where the German Commander of Grossparis, Gen. Dieter von Choltitz, had his office and apartment.
The Hôtel de Ville (the town hall) was occupied on August 20th by mainly left-wing résistants, only to be shelled by German tanks. The first Allied Shermans arrived here at 9:22 p.m. August 24th. Church bells announced their presence and the beginning of the Liberation. Anecdote: why did the Saint Philippe du Roule church not join the exultant chorus?
The Préfecture de Police (Police Headquarters), just across the esplanade in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, where more than 2,000 striking policemen sparked the Parisian uprising.
Your guide for the Christian history and Liberation of Paris tours is Arthur Gillette, a Harvard magna cum laude French studies
graduate. Based in Paris for more than 40 years, Arthur is an author, the former Editor in Chief of UNESCO’s Museum Magazine and a member of UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage Division.
Private chauffeured tours of Paris
Private chauffeured half- or full-day visits to areas near Paris, such as:
Giverny
Fontainebleau
Les Châteaux de la Loire
Wine Adventures
French cooking class
Literary and Historic Self-Guided Walks, including:
Paris Was A Woman - two walks that explore the Montparnasse and Saint Germain des Près districts and present the Paris of Gertrude Stein, Simone de Beauvoir and many other extraordinary 20th century women.
Discover African-American History in Paris! - a series of walks that cover distinct areas of the City of Light and explain the activities of African Americans, Africans and other African Diaspora peoples living there during the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Rendezvous Eighteenth - a literary walk through Montmartre that couples the sites used in author Jake Lamar's 2003 mystery novel of the same name with the places that Lamar himself frequents as a long time Montmartre resident.
A note on self-guided tours:
Self-guided tours give you great flexibility. You may decide to do half of a particular tour and then visit a museum in the area for the rest of the day, and finish the tour on another day. You can decide in advance if you want to eat in a restaurant at a predefined breaking point in the tour or buy provisions for a picnic lunch and eat in a garden or on a bench in a shady square. Most importantly, you have the option of reading about the historic and literary figures mentioned in the tour before and/or after you take it. We believe that this will significantly enhance your appreciation of their achievements.
Lecture - Black Paris and the Myth of a Colorblind France
An overview of African-American history with a focus on the 20th and 21st centuries. Learn about statesmen and soldiers as well as artists and entertainers, and discover the story behind the myth of a colorblind France. The presentation is followed by a question and answer period.
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Discover Paris! can arrange for any of these events, and more. The entire planning process requires at least 6 weeks. Please review our Services & Fee Schedule, then complete our no-obligation Travel Planning Questionnaire. Upon receipt we will begin work on your itinerary. Send us your idea for an à la carte adventure, and we will make it happen!
All the arrangements you made came through without a hitch. The city tour, the tour of Versailles, Fontainebleau, and Barbizon all went well; our tour guide André was very good. We thank you for making our trip to Paris an enjoyable one. P.K.
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