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Famous sites, Museums and Galleries, Walking Tours, Themed Tours |
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I am qualified to guide on foot, on site and from a moving vehicle in Paris and all over France. |
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Member of the CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU & of the French National Federation of Tourist Guides |
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PARIS CITY |
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Paris |
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General Paris Sightseeing Tour, from a a panoramic 3 hour drive tour of the main sights to a full day tour of 6 hours (with your own coach or car) |
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Paris by night |
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Paris Sightseeing drive Tour - Discover the splendor of the city by night (with your own coach or car) |
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Paris on foot |
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Discover the various areas of Paris, on a walk tour, see > sites, > museums |
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Arc de Triomphe |
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Symbol of the Napoleonic epic. A magnificent view over Paris, with the twelve famous avenues-including the Champs-Elysées- radiating out from the triumphal arch. A video detailing the Arc de Triomphe's finest hours is shown every ten minutes - |
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Opéra Garnier |
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This classical Second-Empire edifice, built by Charles Garnier, in the mid-19th century, houses one of the world's largest theatres. The present ceiling was painted by Marc Chagall. |
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Sacré-Coeur of Montmartre |
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Work on this neo-Byzantine style basilica started in the late 19th century and was completed in 1914. The site was a 19th century village frequented by painters, sculptors and poets. Magnificent panoramic view extending 50 km around Paris (see "Amélie", a romantic comedy film in 2001, by J.P. Jeunet with Audrey Tautou & Mathieu Kassovitz) |
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Alexander Nevsky Cathedral |
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This orthodox neo-Byzantine style church, consecrated in 1861 is dedicated to Saint-Alexander, Prince of Russia. Years later, Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob and Guillaume Apollinaire joined here as witness to the wedding of Pablo Picasso and a Russian dancer, Olga Khokhlova. Magnificent crypt wall paintings. |
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Crypte archéologique du "Parvis de Notre-Dame" |
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The archaeological crypt, under Notre-Dame Cathedral 's Square, has been converted into a shelter for relics found in the course of 1965 and later excavations run by the city’s archaeological and architectural history office. These rooms opened in 1980 to show the remainders of the buildings that had stood on that spot from ancient times to the 19th century. |
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Conciergerie |
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The Conciergerie is an important vestige of the Palace of the Capetians and a remarkable example of 14th century civil architecture (magnificent Gothic rooms). At the time of French Revolution, it was there that Marie-Antoinette the Queen of France was imprisonned. The building which is located alongside the river Seine, features four towers : the Tour de l'Horloge, the Tour Bombec, the Tour d'Argent and the Tour de Cesar.. |
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Sainte-Chapelle |
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The Sainte Chapelle is located within the walls of the present-day main Paris law courts (Palais de Justice). Built a the behest of Saint Louis in the mid-13th century, as a shrine for the saint relics of Christ, this pearl of Gothic art features radiant stained glass including a 15th century rose window |
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Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral |
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In the very heart of the Cité Island, a world heritage site, the cathedral is one of the most remarkable works of art of Gothic architecture, built between the 12 th and 14th centuries, restored in the 19th cent. Chosen by Napoleon 1st for his coronation. The gargoyles, steeple, towers and bells of the monument inspired one of the most famous novels by Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris. Free entrance for the cathedral. Veneration of the Holy Crown of Thorns, every 1st Friday of the month and every friday during Lent at 3.pm, on Good Friday, from 10 am to 5 pm. |
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Palais Royal |
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Facing the Louvre, this peaceful, nostalgic garden is nestled in magnificent 17th-century architecture, and home to contemporary sculptures by Buren and Bury. For four centuries, the palace has been a seat of power and place of pleasure. |
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Passages Couverts |
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Largely a Parisian invention, covered passages or arcades held sway in the capital for some sixty years between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries, an exceptionnally innovative building type, places of great diversity, they were lined with restaurants, theaters, entertainment places and all kinds of shops, luxuryshops, toyshops, bookstores....(Galeries Vivienne, Colbert, Passages des Panoramas, Jouffroy, Verdeau....) |
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Tour Eiffel |
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This three floors tower, which was built by the engineer Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 is 321 meters high (around 1000 feet). On top are radio and TV transmitters serving Paris. The lift machinery located below ground level in the west and east pillars was installed in 1899 ans is strangly reminiscent of the imaginary world of Jules Verne. |
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Tour Jean Sans Peur |
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The highest medieval civil tower downtown Paris is the last vestige of the place where the fate of the Kingdom of France was decided in the early 15th century. |
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Gardens of the Tuileries |
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Laid out by André le Nôtre, the sun-king's landscape gardener, these royal gardens constitute a masterpiec of classical gardening - They became the largest and oldest Paris first public garden. Don't miss the elms, the countless sculptures (open-air sculpture museum -from classical to contemporary times) and the exhibitions at the Jeu de Paume and Orangerie... plus the view. |
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Chapelle Expiatoire |
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A commemorative monument dedicated to Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, the Expiatory Chapel is a late Neoclassical gem |
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Panthéon |
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Formerly the church of Saint Genevieve laid out by the architect Soufflot, in the very heart of the Quartier Latin, nowadays a memorial dedicated to the great people who marked the history and identity of France. Buried in the crypt, Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Zola, Louis Braille, Pierre and Marie Curie, Victor Schoelcher...). Discover The Foucault pendulum which in 1851 was the first demonstration of the Earth's rotation that did not involve celestial observations. |
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Père Lachaise |
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The cemetery in eastern Paris commonly refferred to, as "Père Lachaise cemetery" is the city's most prestigious and most widely visited. The tombs bear the names of major figures from the worlds of science, politics, literature, theatre, muscic and cinema ; Héloïse and Abelard, La Fontaine, Molière, Balzac, Delacroix, Gericault, Champollion, Chopin, Hannemahn, Monge, Rossini, Edith Piaf, Yves Montand and Simone Signoret, Modigliani, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison.... |
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PARIS SURROUNDINGS |
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Jardins Albert Kahn in Boulogne |
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Museum and Gardens. The 4 ha (8 acres) of gardens, painstakingly restored and maintained in the spirit of their creator, show the different aspects of the art of gardening in the early 20th century : the Japanese parts, the contemporary garden, a tribute to Albert Kahn’s life, the formal French gardens, the English garden, a forest of Blue Atlas cedars and Colorado spruces, the wild meadow, a reproduction of the Vosges Mountains near Kahn birthplace. |
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Bois de Vincennes |
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A great place to explore on foot, on horseback, or by boat. And a breath of fresh air a stone's throw east of Paris. Practically every Parisian has been here. Families enjoy the attractions for kids at the Parc Floral and the pay areas peppered around the woods, cyclist enjoy the 17.5 km of tracks and explorer trails, horse riders enjoy the 19 km of tracks and joggers enjoy the 32 km of car-free roads. Next to it, a Zoo, a Buddhist Temple, La Cartoucherie's 6 theatres... |
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Château de Vincennes |
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This castle is one among the rare remaining fortified castles in the Parisian region. From the former hunting lodge it became a royal residence, partly restructured into French Classical style. Visits to the Royal Chapel, the huge fortified enclosure and the moat. |
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Bois de Boulogne |
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Wide open paths, horse-riding trails and sports fields are a few of the highlights in Bois de boulogne, west of Paris. Next to it, the Jardin d'Acclimation's well kept secrets (zoo and botanical garden) |
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Basilica of St-Denis |
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Discover here, on the former site of the Royal Abbey of Saint Denis, the Basilica Cathedral dedicated to the saint patron of France - considered as the first monumental masterpiece of Gothic art- but also the carolingian crypt and the royal necropolis with 70 sculpted recumbent statues - see >> museums |
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Chartres |
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In the heart of the "Beauce" Region, a Unesco World Heritage monument,
Notre-Dame de Chartres, one of the most renown destination for pilgrims for over a thousand years - An exeptional harmony between architecture, sculpture and stained glass windows. Discover the 9 sculpted portals of the cathedral, 3 500 statues, and the world's largest surface of stained glass windows from 12 and 13th centuries. |
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Reims |
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Notre-Dame of Reims, cathedral : see >> Champagne Region |
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Giverny |
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The master of impressionism, Claude Monet 's House and Gardens : see >> Normandy Region |
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Auvers-sur-Oise |
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30 km to the north of Paris,along the Oise, the typical little rural houses and fields became an Impressionist Center. Cezanne, Pissarro, Corot and Renoir all stayed here. Here too, Van Gogh feverishly painted his last paintings. Visit the last home of Vincent Van Gogh, the Auberge Ravoux,
the Château d'Auvers, the church, the House of Dr Gachet and the little cemetery where Vincent and his beloved brother Theo are buried side by side. |
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