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| As a 2,000 year-old city that is the size of Manhattan, Paris offers a variety of unique architectural and historical experiences. French Links Tours makes it possible for you to discover the city on foot with a private expert guide who can trace the city from the Roman conquest by Julius Caesar to the Medieval palaces and Gothic cathedrals to the literary haunts of the Left and Right Banks. While you can definitely learn about the unique architecture of the Arch of Triumph, the Opéra Garnier and the Sainte Chapelle, our guides can also show you the avant-garde Bercy district, one of Europe's noted incubators for contemporary cutting-edge architecture. And for those of you who wish to take photos that are original and memorable, your personal photography guide will assist in the creation of unforgettable photos. The history and architecture of Paris is best seen on foot. Our walking tours are ideal for visitors used to strolling in a big city. However, we also offer the possibility of discovering the treasures of Paris on bicycle with a trained guide, or by car, if you have difficulty walking long distances. Our standard tours are either half-day or full-day tours, but can also be adapted to your specific schedule. Our Guides We work only with trained, experienced guides, who are either university-educated native English speakers or French national guides who speak flawless English. Both have the people skills to make Americans and other English-speakers feel at home in France. Our multilingual guides also have fluency in Spanish, Italian, Russian, German and Chinese, both Mandarin and Cantonese. For further information about tours please contact Ms. Kaplan by completing our Tour Request Form or email kaplan@club-internet.fr. See Fees to book your tours. This tour was cited in an op-ed page article that ran in The Wall Street Journal in August 2005 in both the US and European editions. See Fees to book your tours.
See Fees to book your tours. You will now have a chance to visit the Queen's hamlet where she made butter and cheese, her theatre, where she starred as Rosine in the Barber of Seville as her own maids looked on, and walk to the Temple of Love, where she held her secret trysts. You will also visit the Petit and Grand Trianon, and can organize this visit around a morning tour of the Conciergerie, where she spent her final days before going to the guillotine. Until June 30th, French Links Tours is delighted to include a tour of "Marie Antoinette", a dramatic and visually lush exhibition being held at the Grand Palais in Paris, examining the personality of the doomed queen of France from all angles. An array of objects on display work toward the goal of presenting the totality of a royal life that began in grandeur and ended in tragedy. An early manifestation of celebrity status is shown in the overwhelming number of images of the Dauphine escaping the gilded fetters of her Viennese courtly upbringing and her new French royal life. There is Marie-Antoinette careering on horseback through the grounds of Versailles, and the future queen, first as a pink-cheeked, blue-eyed ingénue, then as a formal court figure. Finally the Dauphine is painted, rose in hand, by Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun in the first portrait to catch her true likeness, the young girl told her mother, Marie-Therese, the archduchess of Austria, whom Marie-Antoinette never saw again after she left her home at age 14. See
Fees to book your tours. The walk ends at Berthillon, which boasts the finest ice-cream in France, soundly beating out Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs. See Fees to book your tours. See Fees to book your tours.
Malmaison is a 16th Century château, bought in 1799 by Joséphine Bonaparte who was looking for an estate on the edge of Paris. The couple called in the young architects Percier and Fontaine, who transformed the old building into a unique example of elegance and refinement. The Hôtel des Invalides, founded by Louis XIV to shelter 7,000 aged or crippled formed soldiers. In the chapels of Saint-Louis are the tombs of Napoleon's brothers Joseph and Jérôme, of his son (whose body was returned from Vienna in 1940 by Adolf Hitler), and of the marshals of France. Immediately beneath the cupola is a red porphyry sarcophagus that covers the six coffins enclosing the body of Napoleon I, which was returned from Saint-Helena in 1840 through the efforts of King Louis-Philippe. Napoleon's uniforms, personal arms, and death bed are displayed in the rich Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum) at the front of the Invalides. Fewer than 100 pensioners now live at the hospital, which is used as a paraplegic centre. See Fees to book your tours. See Fees to book your tours.
See Fees to book your tours.
Passages built in the early 1800s, as lively and unique today as they were 200 years ago. Here you will find a myriad of small and fine shops that sell everything from elegant engraved calling cards to lacy lingerie; film memorabilia to rare books; along with minutely detailed doll houses and every item to go with them, not to mention delightful cafes and restaurants. See Fees to book your tours. See Fees to book your tours.
See Fees to book your tours. See Fees to book your tours.
See Fees to book your tours. See Fees to book your tours. See Fees to book your tours.
See Fees to book your tours.
If you have to cancel your trip one month prior to the scheduled tour we provide a 30% refund. Two weeks or less, there is no refund. French Links Tours and British Links Tours are not responsible for any loss or injury incurred before, during and after the tour. We strongly advise you to purchase travel insurance prior to departure and check with your physician on your travel plans if you have chronic health problems.
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Architectural Paris Tour
Discover the architectural highlights of Paris: from the oldest
known monument in Paris, the Obelisk of Ramses II on
the Place de la Concorde, to the 21st-century Bibliothèque François
Mitterrand to the stunning Mannerist Renaissance Palace
housing the Senate that overlooks the Luxembourg Gardens. Walk through
the narrow, winding streets of the Marais, where you'll
see the 800-year-old retaining walls that once surrounded the city and
the splendid 17th-century mansions that once housed the French nobility
and their mistresses. Your tour will also include a tour of Notre
Dame and the greatest Gothic reliquary chapel built for Saint
Louis after he acquired the Crown of Thorns.
Your
expert guide covers that glorious week's political and military highlights
and anecdotes - some serious, others wildly funny - pinpointing along
the way how Hemingway liberated the cellars at the Ritz, how the German
high command von Choltitz was persuaded to save Paris from destruction,
and how the city's police headquarters became the launchpad for the
city's liberation. This tour is a walk-through of events and people
that, chaotically but successfully, saved the City of Light. On our
full day tour, you will visit the Museum of the Order of the
Liberation and the Invalides' new exhibition
on the history of World War II.
With French Links, discover the major monuments of Paris in a personalized
city tour that is offered in a chauffeured minivan or elegant limousine
either by day or night. Your guide will take you inside all the major
sites, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Sainte
Chapelle (known for their dazzling 13th-century stained glassed
windows), the Arch of Triumph (did you know you could
visit the summit and get one of the best views of Paris?), the 1,000
foot-high Eiffel Tower, the Sacré-Coeur
in Montmartre, and Napoleon's Tomb at the Invalides
Church. At each stop, you will have time to tour and take pictures to
your heart's content. A nice alternative to the never-get-off-the bus
tour!
Now that Sophia Coppola has directed Marie-Antoinette, Versailles has
opened up parts of her royal domain, never seen before by the public.
With our expert guide, you will discover the history and craftsmanship
behind France's greatest Gothic cathedral, Notre-Dame de Paris,
the Conciergerie (the city's oldest Medieval palace
and prison), the flower market, the police headquarters
where the Liberation of Paris took place, and the Ile Saint
Louis, famed for its picturesque 17th-century buildings and
inns, galleries and restaurants, as well as the oldest tennis court
in Paris, now located in an elegant four-star hotel!
With our expert guide, you have a chance to wander the most historic
district in France, where you will find Norman-style houses from the
15th century, Renaissance mansions lived in by noblemen
and courtesans, tax collectors and kings.This walk shows you the Jewish
quarter with synagogues built by Hector Guimard and Gustave
Eiffel, and the splendid Place des Vosges, once home
to Victor Hugo, Rachel and the belle-lettrist Madame de Sévigné. Our
guide will also show you some of the area's finest shops and art galleries,
as well as the best place for felafel and strudel this side of Tel Aviv.
Follow France's most infamous couple around Paris, from the Château de Malmaison to the Invalides in the heart of Paris. 
With our expert guide, you will visit the famous St. Germain
des Prés Church and Abbey Palace, the 13th
century Cordeliers monk's refectory and the 15th century Cluny Abbot's
mansion and garden, now devoted to the history, art and horticulture
of the Middle Ages. You will also discover the Tower of Jean
Sans Peur, which is noted for its unique exhibitions on Medieval
life, including on food, education and warfare. Our guide can also show
you the Medieval origins of the Louvre, with the original
foundations commissioned by Philip Augustus and his grandson Charles
V, and the newly opened Chateau de Vincennes, the largest
fortified castle in Western Europe.
With
our expert guide, you will discover original architectural masterpieces,
including Hector Guimard's award-winning Castel Béranger,
nick-named Castel Dérangé (deranged castle) and decorated with zany
animal and vegetal forms; the Villa Massena, and the
Hotel Guimard, built by the architect for himself and his wife,
the American painter and heiress Adeline Oppenheim. The tour also includes
other Art Nouveau buildings by Henri Sauvage and Georges Chedanne.
Join our guide at the Palais Royal, where the elegant
colonnaded galleries of shops ring the beautiful formal gardens, and
where once fiery revolutionaries and bordellos held sway; she will then
take you into a series of glass-roof covered
You
want to walk in the footsteps of Marie-Antoinette before
she was beheaded? You'd like to see the contorted face of the executioner
Fouquier-Tinville or the snarling head of Robespierre?
Or better yet see the list of victims during the Terror, the keys that
were used to lock up the Bastille and the jail cells
for rich and for the poor? Then come on a tour of Revolutionary Paris,
to the haunted Conciergerie Palace, the Tuileries
Gardens and the Palais-Royal where Camille
Desmoulins first shouted, standing on a café table, "To the Bastille!"
Explore and learn the history and culture of the world's fourth
largest Jewish community through a fascinating tour of the
Marais, the Jewish Documentation Center and Holocaust
Memorial, the Museum of Jewish Art and History, the synagogues of Hector
Guimard and Gustave Eiffel, as well as the splendid Nissim de Camondo
Museum. We will also introduce you to the best schawarma and felafel
this side of Tel Aviv. Art lovers can discover the studio and home of
Ossip Zadkine and the Montparnasse Museum – home of the School
of Paris: Chagall, Soutine, Modigliani...
Everyone knows that Paris is the world's leading mecca for writers and
always has been. Our literary tour takes you to the legends of the past,
including the homes of Victor Hugo on the Place des
Vosges, the apartment of Honoré de Balzac in Passy,
where he spent his waking hours editing The Human Comedy, or
the Museum of Romantic Life, where you'll discover the domestic and
writing life of George Sand. Along the way, you'll
see where Hemingway wrote The Sun Also Rises
and where James Joyce published Ulysses, the
studio where Gertrude Stein held literary court and
the elegant apartment where Edith Wharton wrote Ethan
Frome, the book that earned her place in the American Academy of
Letters.
Explore the city that women built, fought for and wrote about: the church
of Saint-Stephen of the Mount, where you'll find the tomb of the
city's patron saint Geneviève, who saved the city from Attila
the Hun; the Luxembourg Gardens and Fountains of Queen Marie
de Médicis; the mansion of Henri II's illegitimate daughter
Diane de France and the home where feminist George
Sand used to visit with Chopin. Or visit the museum founded by Auguste
Maillol's model Dina Vierny, where you'll discover
the great Modernist painters, as well as the entire oeuvre of Maillol
himself. Outside of Paris, we will visit Malmaison, the home of Josephine
both as wife and divorcée, the studio of painter Rosa Bonheur,
as well as the country estate of Nélie Jacquemart-André,
the single most important woman art collector of her time.
Looking
to capture memorable pictures of Paris and short on time? Then book
French Links Walking Tours expert guide on a walk through
the most scenic parts of the city to discover ancient Medieval
facades, romantic parks and ruins, enchantingly
picturesque open-air markets, and the best angles from
which to take them all. This tour is adaptable to your schedule –
and is available both early in the morning and at dusk,
when photographers can find the best light. Rates are variable, depending
on length of tour. Note: We can also organize a similar tour in the
French Countryside.
With
our expert guide, you will be able to discover the lives and tombs of
some of the most famous personalities of the 19th and 20th centuries
including Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf,
Frederic Chopin, and Sarah Bernhardt, not
to mention Balzac, Heloise and Abelard.
You will also see some of the extravagant funeral monuments ever built,
including one by a man who is still awaiting his final hour!
With
our expert guide, you will have a chance to learn the history of Paris
sewers and see how they are cleaned daily at the unique Sewer
Museum or Musée des Egouts. You will be very surprised
to discover how clean Paris is and that you don't have to hold
your nose in this unique venue! And for those of you who wish
to see the skulls and bones of Frenchmen dating back to the French Revolution
and earlier, a visit to the Paris Catacombs is in order,
where you will certainly see some of the strangest exhibits since Halloween.
Both these tours are ideal for families; your kids will be especially
delighted to discover this side of Paris!