Paris

We begin where Paris began: Notre-Dame and the Ile de la Cité . We find out the origins of Paris, that it was on this island; the cradle of Paris, where a tribe of Gauls called the Parisii lived in mud huts with thatched roofs.

Julius Caesar conquered them (his famous phrase 'Veni, Vidi, Vici’ now on Tee shirts slightly altered to 'Veni , Vidi, VISA' )! The first Christian king of France, Clovis, the Franks and Francia, why France is called France, the legend of Saint Denis, Gothic architecture and the building of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Victor Hugo and his book Notre -Dame de Paris with Quasimodo and Esmeralda. The tragic love story of Héloise and Abelard, and where the Kings were crowned and where they were buried and behind the cathedral the Memorial to the Deportation (a tragic episode in World War Two).

We cross to the Ile Saint Louis, formerly 'Cow Island' with its aristocratic town houses of the 17th century and pause for a coffee break of (weather permitting) a Berthillon ice cream. Then to the Marais district with its mixture of medieval, and 17th and 18th century fine town houses known as 'Hotels', the elegant Place des Vosges, the first Jesuit Church, the Jewish district, the remains of the medieval wall around Paris . After lunch in a local restaurant, a visit to the Carnavalet Museum (History of Paris) and if interested to the Picasso Museum (opening times permitting).

Depending on your interest, we will begin with the Latin Quarter, (why called 'Latin'), the birth of the Sorbonne university, medieval heretics and executions, literary Paris, Revolutionary Paris where Danton lived, where Marat was murdered in his bath, where the Guillotine was invented and perfected, cafés and conspiracies, Jean Paul Sartre and the intellectuals of the Left Bank, the Cluny museum and the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry, Saint Sulpice Church and the Da Vinci code controversy. Saint Germain des Prés and its quarter with its church dating back to the year 1000 AD. After Lunch in a typical left bank restaurant we continue to visit a major museum such as the Louvre or Orsay.

Itinerary 2: Paris for the seasoned traveler

This itinerary can be tailor-made and is intended for visitors who already know Paris, who have visited Paris many times before and want to see something new.

Museums & temporary exhibitions:

Firstly the guests choose from a selection of Museums they have not yet visited or temporary exhibitions (access depending on availability) such as Nissim de Camondo, Jacquemart André, Cernuschi, Guimet, Cognac Jay, Marmottan or lesser known areas, market streets such as Mouffetard can be combined with evocations of Hemingway's Paris, George Orwell, Charles Garnier who built the Opera and Rodin all lived or grew up in this neighbourhood.

Queen Elizabeth II recently asked to be taken to a local area she had never seen and was taken to the market street Montorgueil near the former central market of Les Halles. Also the Cemetery of Père Lachaise could be visited - over one million are buried here and included in the top fifty are: Chopin, Balzac, Jim Morrison, artists such as David (Napoleon's coronation in the Louvre), Delacroix, Géricault (The Raft of the Medusa in the Louvre),Ingres, the egyptologist Champollion who discovered how to read hieroglyphs, and more recent 20th century personalities - Yves Montand and Simone Signoret, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Modigliani, Gertrude Stein.

Specialized architectural visits:

Art Nouveau to Art Deco and Modernism in the 16th district looking at Hector Guimard's designs and moving on to buildings by Le Corbusier and Mallet Stevens.”

The East Side of Paris:

Where are the modern day artists? Not the ones in the artists square of Montmartre for the tourists. Visit Menilmontant - a popular quarter made famous by songs from two singers born there: Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier and by one not born there called Charles Trenet. See the graffiti art of Nemo and Mesnager's 'White Men' on the buildings, see modern day artists’ studios, discover a vineyard on top of the hill of Belleville .Lunch in a local restaurant. Afternoon in a selected museum.

Itinerary 3: Further Afield

The D Day landing beaches in Normandy (2 days)

Depart Paris 07H30 by car (train option possible). Take A13 Motorway. 156 miles to Caen. Rest Stop before Rouen. Visit Arromanches and see Mulberry Harbour. There is a small museum.

Next to Longues Battery, the only German naval guns still in position, then to the American Cemetery with over 9000 US servicemen buried overlooking Omaha Beach.

Lunch on Omaha Beach. Possible visit to a local museum. After lunch drive to Pointe du Hoc where Colonel Rudder and the Rangers scaled the cliffs to take out a German gun position. The site is still very much like a battlefield.

Return to Bayeux for overnight and a visit of the 900 year old Bayeux Tapestry depicting the invasion of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror and the defeat of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

Please note: Accommodation depends on wishes of clients but the three best Chateaux Hotels are: Sully, Audrieu and Chennevière.

Day Two: Continue the D Day Circuit with Utah Beach and Sainte Mère Eglise where the Airborne divisions (82nd and 101st) dropped. Visit the German cemetery of La Cambe.

Return to Caen and visit the Memorial Museum (the best and largest in Normandy). Continue to the British and Canadian Beaches of Sword and Juno. Visit Pegasus Bridge Museum and the Café Gondry where the British airborne troops were relieved by Lord Lovat and his brigade bagpiper (as seen in the film 'The Longest Day').

Return to Paris with option of seeing Rommel's Headquarters at La Roche Guyon and Claude Monet's house and gardens at Giverny (seasonal opening). Back to Paris by 7.30pm on day two.

Please note: The Normandy experiences (2 days) involves additional planning and pricing. Please ask us for a customized itinerary.

Paris
Selected Guided visits to the Louvre, Orsay Museum,Notre Dame Cathedral, the hidden gems of the Nissim de Camondo Museum with its fine eighteenth century furniture and the Jacquemart-Andre Museum both in elegant and refined residences, the Marmottan Museum , the Orangerie collection ,the Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie, the Rodin Museum, the military Museum at the Invalides,the newly renovated Petit Palais and its art collection, and in the Marais district the Picasso Museum and the Carnavalet - History of Paris Museum.

Day Excursions
Vaux le Vicomte, Versailles,Malmaison, Fontainebleau, Monet's House and Garden at Giverny, Rommel's Headquarters at La Roche Guyon, Royaumont, Chartres Cathedral, Maintenon and Rambouillet.

The Regions of France

First WW cemetery
 

Normandy
One or two day excursions. The D Day Landing Beaches , Bayeux Tapestry, Mont Saint Michel, Rouen, Caen, Deauville and Honfleur.

The Loire Valley
The castles of Blois, Chenonceau, Ussé (Sleeping Beauty), Azay-le-Rideau, Langeais, Villandry, Amboise, the abbey of Fontevrault with the tombs of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her son Richard the Lionheart, the towns of Tours, Saumur, Chinon and Angers.

Brittany
St Malo, Dinard, the walled towns of Dinan and Fougères and Rennes the capital of Brittany.

The World War One Battlefields
The Somme, Verdun and Belleau Wood.

Champagne and Rheims

Burgundy
Beaune and Dijon and the vineyards

Bordeaux
Wine tours to the Medoc and St Emilion vineyards and Cognac.

Southern France
Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Nimes, Marseille, Montpellier, Narbonne, Nice and the Cote d'Azur, Monaco, In the footsteps of Cézanne, Van Gogh ,Renoir, Picasso , Chagall and Matisse, The Luberon and its villages of Gordes and Rousillon and the Abbey of Senanques.

South Western France
Pézenas and 'Sete, Millau Viaduct - marvel of the 21st century, Cathar Country' : Carcassonne, Toulouse and Albi.

Dordogne and Perigord:
The Prehistoric sites Lascaux II, Rouffignac, Les Eyzies, the towns of Beynac, La Roque Gageac, Domme and Perigueux.

FURTHER AFIELD ...

Tour Manager Services to Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Other Specialist Tours can be arranged on request. Selected Itineraries a speciality. Tailor-made to suit individual requirements.

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