have left numerous messages for michael osman but never heard back. who else is a good tour guide in paris?
Feb 28th, 2008, 08:12 AM
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have left numerous messages for michael osman but never heard back. who else is a good tour guide in paris?
hi. we are going to paris in may for our 4th time and wanted to try a 1/2 day tour. any recomendations? i saw the name scott but no further contact information. thanks as always.
Feb 28th, 2008, 08:22 AM
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Do a search here on his name. You will find multiple threads that will confirm he is not always prompt, and likewise that people who have used him enjoyed it.
IMHO it seems a strange way to run a business where you need to chase after the vendor, but it seems to work for him.
IMHO it seems a strange way to run a business where you need to chase after the vendor, but it seems to work for him.
Feb 28th, 2008, 08:37 AM
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Plambers - try emailing him again before you give up. I know he takes sometime to return emails at times as he is often out all day doing tours etc.
We had booked him last June for our short stay in Paris (well, actually his partner Scott) Unfortunately OUR plans changed due to flight delays and we were unable to use him.
I am planning on re-booking for our trip to Paris in December. He is highly recommended.
We had booked him last June for our short stay in Paris (well, actually his partner Scott) Unfortunately OUR plans changed due to flight delays and we were unable to use him.
I am planning on re-booking for our trip to Paris in December. He is highly recommended.
Feb 28th, 2008, 09:40 AM
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I have had the pleasure of having Michael take me and friends around Paris on several lovely days in Paris and I can't imagine him ever throwing a fit or being drunk. He is a very nice person and does a wonderful job of trying to please. One reason he may have a little trouble answering some of his emails is that he will stay with people all day and night if they wish and I'm sure he's exhausted after some of the long days he spends attending to everyones wishes. I look forward to having Michael take us to many more wonderful places in Paris on our next trip and if he's slow in answering emails I'm happy to think he's just very busy or getting a little well deserved rest.
Feb 28th, 2008, 09:55 AM
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No,no!
There is a cantankerous guide who is well known for his tours of Chartres Cathedral, who supposedly has an occasional tipple. Nothing to do with Michael Osman.
Only head positives about Michael's attitude and tours.
There is a cantankerous guide who is well known for his tours of Chartres Cathedral, who supposedly has an occasional tipple. Nothing to do with Michael Osman.
Only head positives about Michael's attitude and tours.
Feb 28th, 2008, 10:34 AM
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Plambers - is it possible your email is going to his spam? He has an AOL account and often I get emails in my spam esp. when researchng trips etc - I have to be careful to double check but often forget.
Regarding his partner, alas, he booked it for me. Perhaps try calling him?
Again, while I did not actually go on tour with him - he was remarkable even in his email exchanges with me, recommending resturants, giving me information regarding my hotel and what rooms to request etc. I know it must be frustrating but give it one more try?
Regarding his partner, alas, he booked it for me. Perhaps try calling him?
Again, while I did not actually go on tour with him - he was remarkable even in his email exchanges with me, recommending resturants, giving me information regarding my hotel and what rooms to request etc. I know it must be frustrating but give it one more try?
Feb 28th, 2008, 11:15 AM
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Plambers - I hope he emails you back
Regarding Scott I am sorry I was not more clear in my other post - I went through Micheal for all the arragements (with no issues) occasionally as I said he was slow in replying - but as I said and others did, he was out all day etc doing tours.
Hope you hear back soon! Let us know and again, maybe try phoning? Not sure if you have.
Regarding Scott I am sorry I was not more clear in my other post - I went through Micheal for all the arragements (with no issues) occasionally as I said he was slow in replying - but as I said and others did, he was out all day etc doing tours.
Hope you hear back soon! Let us know and again, maybe try phoning? Not sure if you have.
Mar 2nd, 2008, 10:42 AM
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I just happened to catch Michael on my first try for last April. I think I contacted him about 6 weeks before my trip.
He was the highlight of our trip, and he gave us (myself and my teenage daughter) a killer one day tour at a VERY reasonable price. I know he has friends who also will help people out occasionally. I would encourage you to continue trying to contact him. He is definitely worth the extra effort.
He was the highlight of our trip, and he gave us (myself and my teenage daughter) a killer one day tour at a VERY reasonable price. I know he has friends who also will help people out occasionally. I would encourage you to continue trying to contact him. He is definitely worth the extra effort.
Mar 3rd, 2008, 10:48 AM
#18
" Now my next question-what did folks see w/ Michael? "
plambers, Ask and you shall receive. Our day with Michael from my December 2006 trip report.
DAY FIVE: WALK TILL YOU DROP, THE ATTACK OF THE NEWSPAPER MAN, IS THAT SPERM IN THE PANTHEON AND FORK IT OVER YOU STUPID AMERICAN
We woke up with a dilemma. Looking out the window as daylight finally arrived, it looked like it was going to be another spectacularly sunny day. On the other hand, we had Michael Osman arriving in a little less than an hour to take us on a tour of the Louvre. I could see Karl Malden as I thought, “What do you do? What do you do?”
As mentioned, Tracy and I had won a half-day tour with Michael on SlowTravel thanks to them liking my story about our Italian trip in 2005 (finally there was a reason why I put the wrong gas in the car). I really had no idea what to expect of Michael, since I had not read a lot about him before, other than he was an artist and was from Philadelphia. Was he fun? Was he stodgy? Was he interesting? Only time would tell.
I was in the bookstore (foreshadowing for later that morning) next to the hotel when he arrived and met Tracy (at least he knew that ½ of his contingent was normal). As soon as I met Michael, I knew that stodgy was out while fun and interesting were definitely in.
He was wearing a black hat, had a satchel under one arm and, as we were to find out, he had a lot more than a satchel full of information and tidbits about Paris. If you could picture in your mind the person you would want to give you a tour, this guy was it.
I sheepishly inquired whether he could change from a Louvre Tour to an outside walking tour. He replied that he had his Louvre game face on, but that he loved walking in Paris, so he replied, “Let’s see what happens.” I love spontaneity.
We walked through the Place de Concorde to the metro, where we rode to the Bastille area, passing by the Louvre. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Michael said. I hesitated, but said, “Yes.”
When we got off the metro, Michael showed us where we could go on a boat ride that would take us through locks. I hadn’t known that this little trip existed, and it sounded interesting for a future Paris trip (when it’s a little warmer).
On that morning, he first gave us a little Bastille history and as we walked through the Marais, he gave us information about Caron de Beaumarchais and his influence on the American Revolutionary War.
Then it was on to the Place des Vosges and more fun facts.
We walked through a courtyard to a bookstore in an old residence near the Place des Vosges where I suffered the second attack in two days, this time by a crazed Frenchman carrying a wadded up newspaper. As I was about to go through the door, the man (possibly retaliating for my pummeling of a blind man only 26 hours earlier on the other side of town), starting shouting in a crazed, and I might say, drunken barrage.
He then took his wadded up newspaper and beat me about the head and shoulders as I attempted to go in. I had learned yesterday that my now superhuman powers could nearly cause a blind guy to be hurled feet (perhaps yards) backward, so instead of retaliating from this merciless pummeling, I sought refuge in the Paris travel book section. I told them there was no bruising, but I believe I saw the remnants of newsprint on my new overcoat. It was at this point both Tracy AND Michael gave me the look.
Michael had taken us to the store because there are some very good books about Paris, although not all of them are in English.
After showing us a piece of the old Paris wall from the 11th and 12th centuries, Michael took us through the Jewish quarter of the Marais and showed us where an assassin killed six people at the Goldenberg restaurant on rue de Rosiers in August of 1982. He gave us a very interesting overview of the Marais and how it has changed through the years.
We then ducked into the Musée Carnavalet – Historie de Paris. Michael gave us a greatest hits tour, which took us to the paintings about the French Revolution, which included many going to their inglorious ends.
There’s nothing like some pictures of people getting their heads chopped off by a guillotine to give a person an appetite. After visiting Saint Paul’s church, the three of us had lunch outside at a little place just over the Seine on Ilé Saint-Louis. I had my first-ever Croques Monsieur, and it was trés delicious.
As we had crossed the bridge to the restaurant, the Pantheon loomed in the distance, through what Michael called “an impressionistic haze (I’ve got to use that the next time people come to our home near Los Angeles and complain about the smog).” It was also interesting how the sun never rose very high during the day at this time of year, which makes for some difficult picture taking at times.
After lunch, it was decision time again. It was still gorgeous, and Michael asked what we wanted to do. For some reason, I had never gone to the Pantheon on any previous visits, so I said, “Let’s head up there.”
We stopped by a church on the way (I cannot remember the name), and Michael said it was unlike the others. “You’ll see,” he said.
It wasn’t because of the church interior; it was the people that were a little, uh, off. I guess they don’t get a lot of visitors, because they were much more religious, and as we exited the church one guy was giving me “the look” of a different kind, the blank kind. It was a little weird, but well worth the experience to witness the Stepford Parishioner.
We walked up to the Pantheon, and when we got inside there were white nylon things hanging down from the ceiling, and they were filled with white Styrofoam. It looked like something out of Woody Allen’s “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex.” Indeed, without too much imagination, they looked like sperm. “I never had anything like this in sixth-grade Sex-Ed,” I said.
I have no idea why we had never visited the Pantheon, but I liked it (even with the sperm hanging down). The only down side was that the crypts were closed that day, which was sad because, like that kid in the movie, “I like seeing dead people.”
As we walked out, and impressionistic haze shrouded the Eiffel Tower. Love that damn phrase.
Next stop was the nearby church of Saint Etienne-du-Mont, and we weren’t going to let a little thing like a funeral get in the way of tourism. Fortunately Michael knew the back entrance to the church where a few pieces of St. Genevieve, the patron saint, of Paris still reside, and where we would not disturb the people at the funeral.
Michael wanted to show us a back room where there are some spectacular pieces of stained glass that can be viewed. It was cool to be able to actually stand within an arm’s length of these pieces, because you could actually see the story that was depicted within each frame.
We bid au revoir to Genevieve and headed for the rue de Mouffetard and its shops, restaurants, patisseries, cafes and open markets. It has a great Parisian flavor to it (there was an organ grinder in front of one store and some kids were shooting a low budget movie on one of the side streets).
The markets are a little different from your farmers’ market at home. The fowl they sell still have the feathers (to show its freshness) while behind one of the counters there hung a freshly killed rabbit (I didn’t stick around long enough to watch them split hares).
In our quest to visit all ethnicities, our next stop was the Paris Mosque. It was nearing dusk, so we didn’t have a lot of time, but we ducked inside and there is a tearoom, a restaurant (that was very colorful and looked charming) along with a spa. We didn’t get back on this trip, but have marked it down for our next Paris experience.
We scurried through the Jardine des Plants and found Michael’s favorite carrousel in Paris, the one next to the Musée National d’ Historie Nuturelle. It had dinosaurs and other exotic creatures instead of horses. As a fan of Godzilla (only the one with Raymond Burr, please), it was fun. We also got a fun picture of a dragon in the park (not a real one, of course. It looked like it was made out of recycled cans).
Speaking of draggin’, we were all pretty tired by now from our Michael Marathon, so he decided for us to catch a bus back to the Place de Concorde, where we had virtually started our day.
We got on the #24 bus, but as we made a right turn over the Seine, Michael said, “This is strange. The bus is headed in the wrong direction.” Within a few minutes the opera lay ahead, Michael told us that we had just passed near Harry’s Bar (trip report foreshadowing again) and we were headed toward Printemps.
It just so happens that earlier in the day Michael had said the roof of Printemps gives you an amazing view out over Paris at night. As the bus headed toward the Printemps stop, Michael said, “You guys want to go see the view?”
Well, we never met a view we didn’t like, so up the 12,000 escalators we rode to the top of Printemps. Out on the roof, the view was mind-boggling. We got there just after 6 p.m., and the Eiffel Tower was doing its light show incroyable with what looked like a million sparkling colors dancing like a freaked-out 80s’ disco. Wow!
Behind us was Sacré-Coeur, basking in its lights on its façade. Other monuments (the Madeleine in its blue lights was astounding) and churches throughout Paris were lit, and words cannot describe how beautiful and exhilarating the experience was for us.
We told Michael that we had probably worn him out enough for the day, so we all walked back together to the metro station where we were to say good-bye. Sadly, our guide then had to be witness to another Maitaitom wardrobe malfunction.
Michael’s tour went above and beyond the call of duty, so I thought it would be nice to give him a substantial tip. Unfortunately I had worn my tighter black jeans on this day. Located inside my right front pocket were our two passports and my wallet, containing the aforementioned tip. I had also buttoned down my coat too far…again.
As I moved away from Michael and Tracy in a surreptitious attempt to get out my wallet, I started to go into my “wild and crazy guy” routine. I think Michael was about to call the Paris paramedics when Tracy said, “Oh no, it’s just my stupid husband trying to get his wallet out of his pocket.” Well, so much for the surprise tip, eh?
We bid farewell to Michael (and told him we’d take that Louvre Tour the next time we visited), and as we headed back to the hotel, we both marveled at how fun the day had been. If anyone wants an up close and personal guide to Paris, Michael gets our highest recommendation. He is very informative but above all, he is just a joy to spend the day with and learn about Paris.
plambers, Ask and you shall receive. Our day with Michael from my December 2006 trip report.
DAY FIVE: WALK TILL YOU DROP, THE ATTACK OF THE NEWSPAPER MAN, IS THAT SPERM IN THE PANTHEON AND FORK IT OVER YOU STUPID AMERICAN
We woke up with a dilemma. Looking out the window as daylight finally arrived, it looked like it was going to be another spectacularly sunny day. On the other hand, we had Michael Osman arriving in a little less than an hour to take us on a tour of the Louvre. I could see Karl Malden as I thought, “What do you do? What do you do?”
As mentioned, Tracy and I had won a half-day tour with Michael on SlowTravel thanks to them liking my story about our Italian trip in 2005 (finally there was a reason why I put the wrong gas in the car). I really had no idea what to expect of Michael, since I had not read a lot about him before, other than he was an artist and was from Philadelphia. Was he fun? Was he stodgy? Was he interesting? Only time would tell.
I was in the bookstore (foreshadowing for later that morning) next to the hotel when he arrived and met Tracy (at least he knew that ½ of his contingent was normal). As soon as I met Michael, I knew that stodgy was out while fun and interesting were definitely in.
He was wearing a black hat, had a satchel under one arm and, as we were to find out, he had a lot more than a satchel full of information and tidbits about Paris. If you could picture in your mind the person you would want to give you a tour, this guy was it.
I sheepishly inquired whether he could change from a Louvre Tour to an outside walking tour. He replied that he had his Louvre game face on, but that he loved walking in Paris, so he replied, “Let’s see what happens.” I love spontaneity.
We walked through the Place de Concorde to the metro, where we rode to the Bastille area, passing by the Louvre. “Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Michael said. I hesitated, but said, “Yes.”
When we got off the metro, Michael showed us where we could go on a boat ride that would take us through locks. I hadn’t known that this little trip existed, and it sounded interesting for a future Paris trip (when it’s a little warmer).
On that morning, he first gave us a little Bastille history and as we walked through the Marais, he gave us information about Caron de Beaumarchais and his influence on the American Revolutionary War.
Then it was on to the Place des Vosges and more fun facts.
We walked through a courtyard to a bookstore in an old residence near the Place des Vosges where I suffered the second attack in two days, this time by a crazed Frenchman carrying a wadded up newspaper. As I was about to go through the door, the man (possibly retaliating for my pummeling of a blind man only 26 hours earlier on the other side of town), starting shouting in a crazed, and I might say, drunken barrage.
He then took his wadded up newspaper and beat me about the head and shoulders as I attempted to go in. I had learned yesterday that my now superhuman powers could nearly cause a blind guy to be hurled feet (perhaps yards) backward, so instead of retaliating from this merciless pummeling, I sought refuge in the Paris travel book section. I told them there was no bruising, but I believe I saw the remnants of newsprint on my new overcoat. It was at this point both Tracy AND Michael gave me the look.
Michael had taken us to the store because there are some very good books about Paris, although not all of them are in English.
After showing us a piece of the old Paris wall from the 11th and 12th centuries, Michael took us through the Jewish quarter of the Marais and showed us where an assassin killed six people at the Goldenberg restaurant on rue de Rosiers in August of 1982. He gave us a very interesting overview of the Marais and how it has changed through the years.
We then ducked into the Musée Carnavalet – Historie de Paris. Michael gave us a greatest hits tour, which took us to the paintings about the French Revolution, which included many going to their inglorious ends.
There’s nothing like some pictures of people getting their heads chopped off by a guillotine to give a person an appetite. After visiting Saint Paul’s church, the three of us had lunch outside at a little place just over the Seine on Ilé Saint-Louis. I had my first-ever Croques Monsieur, and it was trés delicious.
As we had crossed the bridge to the restaurant, the Pantheon loomed in the distance, through what Michael called “an impressionistic haze (I’ve got to use that the next time people come to our home near Los Angeles and complain about the smog).” It was also interesting how the sun never rose very high during the day at this time of year, which makes for some difficult picture taking at times.
After lunch, it was decision time again. It was still gorgeous, and Michael asked what we wanted to do. For some reason, I had never gone to the Pantheon on any previous visits, so I said, “Let’s head up there.”
We stopped by a church on the way (I cannot remember the name), and Michael said it was unlike the others. “You’ll see,” he said.
It wasn’t because of the church interior; it was the people that were a little, uh, off. I guess they don’t get a lot of visitors, because they were much more religious, and as we exited the church one guy was giving me “the look” of a different kind, the blank kind. It was a little weird, but well worth the experience to witness the Stepford Parishioner.
We walked up to the Pantheon, and when we got inside there were white nylon things hanging down from the ceiling, and they were filled with white Styrofoam. It looked like something out of Woody Allen’s “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex.” Indeed, without too much imagination, they looked like sperm. “I never had anything like this in sixth-grade Sex-Ed,” I said.
I have no idea why we had never visited the Pantheon, but I liked it (even with the sperm hanging down). The only down side was that the crypts were closed that day, which was sad because, like that kid in the movie, “I like seeing dead people.”
As we walked out, and impressionistic haze shrouded the Eiffel Tower. Love that damn phrase.
Next stop was the nearby church of Saint Etienne-du-Mont, and we weren’t going to let a little thing like a funeral get in the way of tourism. Fortunately Michael knew the back entrance to the church where a few pieces of St. Genevieve, the patron saint, of Paris still reside, and where we would not disturb the people at the funeral.
Michael wanted to show us a back room where there are some spectacular pieces of stained glass that can be viewed. It was cool to be able to actually stand within an arm’s length of these pieces, because you could actually see the story that was depicted within each frame.
We bid au revoir to Genevieve and headed for the rue de Mouffetard and its shops, restaurants, patisseries, cafes and open markets. It has a great Parisian flavor to it (there was an organ grinder in front of one store and some kids were shooting a low budget movie on one of the side streets).
The markets are a little different from your farmers’ market at home. The fowl they sell still have the feathers (to show its freshness) while behind one of the counters there hung a freshly killed rabbit (I didn’t stick around long enough to watch them split hares).
In our quest to visit all ethnicities, our next stop was the Paris Mosque. It was nearing dusk, so we didn’t have a lot of time, but we ducked inside and there is a tearoom, a restaurant (that was very colorful and looked charming) along with a spa. We didn’t get back on this trip, but have marked it down for our next Paris experience.
We scurried through the Jardine des Plants and found Michael’s favorite carrousel in Paris, the one next to the Musée National d’ Historie Nuturelle. It had dinosaurs and other exotic creatures instead of horses. As a fan of Godzilla (only the one with Raymond Burr, please), it was fun. We also got a fun picture of a dragon in the park (not a real one, of course. It looked like it was made out of recycled cans).
Speaking of draggin’, we were all pretty tired by now from our Michael Marathon, so he decided for us to catch a bus back to the Place de Concorde, where we had virtually started our day.
We got on the #24 bus, but as we made a right turn over the Seine, Michael said, “This is strange. The bus is headed in the wrong direction.” Within a few minutes the opera lay ahead, Michael told us that we had just passed near Harry’s Bar (trip report foreshadowing again) and we were headed toward Printemps.
It just so happens that earlier in the day Michael had said the roof of Printemps gives you an amazing view out over Paris at night. As the bus headed toward the Printemps stop, Michael said, “You guys want to go see the view?”
Well, we never met a view we didn’t like, so up the 12,000 escalators we rode to the top of Printemps. Out on the roof, the view was mind-boggling. We got there just after 6 p.m., and the Eiffel Tower was doing its light show incroyable with what looked like a million sparkling colors dancing like a freaked-out 80s’ disco. Wow!
Behind us was Sacré-Coeur, basking in its lights on its façade. Other monuments (the Madeleine in its blue lights was astounding) and churches throughout Paris were lit, and words cannot describe how beautiful and exhilarating the experience was for us.
We told Michael that we had probably worn him out enough for the day, so we all walked back together to the metro station where we were to say good-bye. Sadly, our guide then had to be witness to another Maitaitom wardrobe malfunction.
Michael’s tour went above and beyond the call of duty, so I thought it would be nice to give him a substantial tip. Unfortunately I had worn my tighter black jeans on this day. Located inside my right front pocket were our two passports and my wallet, containing the aforementioned tip. I had also buttoned down my coat too far…again.
As I moved away from Michael and Tracy in a surreptitious attempt to get out my wallet, I started to go into my “wild and crazy guy” routine. I think Michael was about to call the Paris paramedics when Tracy said, “Oh no, it’s just my stupid husband trying to get his wallet out of his pocket.” Well, so much for the surprise tip, eh?
We bid farewell to Michael (and told him we’d take that Louvre Tour the next time we visited), and as we headed back to the hotel, we both marveled at how fun the day had been. If anyone wants an up close and personal guide to Paris, Michael gets our highest recommendation. He is very informative but above all, he is just a joy to spend the day with and learn about Paris.
Mar 3rd, 2008, 06:24 PM
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Yay for Michael!
We were only in Paris for one day, coming via the Eurostar from London. My mindset was that I had never been to Paris, and I may never return to Paris, so I wanted to see the biggies (Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, etc). I purchased one day bus passes and museum passes online before we left home in order to maximize our time in the city. It was an amazing day for early April, around 72 degrees, which made sightseeing very pleasant.
Michael picked us up at Gare du Nord, he was easy to spot with the hat. We took the city bus to the Eiffel tower; it was very crowded due to the lovely weather and spring break, so we didn't go up. Michael took some great pictures of us near the tower though that are amazing memories.
Next we took the bus to Notre Dame...Michael had some super funny stories about the cathedral...ask him about Monty Python's the Holy Grail. He also is very good about discussing the sights you pass as you are on the bus.
We spent a good bit of time at the d'Orsay, where Michael was absolutely amazing in his breadth and depth of knowledge. He knows his stuff. I was in Paris with my teenage daughter, and Michael was taken with the Madonna theme. Each place we went, he focused on how mother and child were reflected in art and architecture. It made the tour very special.
We slipped into the Conciergerie, Marie Antoinette's last prison residence. The staff definitely knew Michael, and he was funny and delightful there.
We had a light lunch purchased from a boulangerie, eaten on a park bench and then went into a corner bookstore to purchase some books for my little boys. Who would have thought that French bookshop clerks would have no idea who Madeline is?
We made a super quick stop at the Louvre...Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, jewels, mother and child. Michael knows all the easy ins and outs so that you can make the most of your time.
We ended the day with some high fashion window shopping, going into Chanel, Dior, Bottega Veneta, Hermes. It was super fun and Michael clearly had been there multiple times with other clients. We then went to a lovely chocolate shop and shared some chocolates.
Michael took us back to Gare du Nord via the bus in time for our 6:30pm train to London.
As a Paris newbie, I'm sure my interests were things you've already seen. That said, I'm sure Michael could give you an amazing half day tour of things you've never seen, or even noticed, in Paris. I'm jealous...Enjoy!
We were only in Paris for one day, coming via the Eurostar from London. My mindset was that I had never been to Paris, and I may never return to Paris, so I wanted to see the biggies (Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, etc). I purchased one day bus passes and museum passes online before we left home in order to maximize our time in the city. It was an amazing day for early April, around 72 degrees, which made sightseeing very pleasant.
Michael picked us up at Gare du Nord, he was easy to spot with the hat. We took the city bus to the Eiffel tower; it was very crowded due to the lovely weather and spring break, so we didn't go up. Michael took some great pictures of us near the tower though that are amazing memories.
Next we took the bus to Notre Dame...Michael had some super funny stories about the cathedral...ask him about Monty Python's the Holy Grail. He also is very good about discussing the sights you pass as you are on the bus.
We spent a good bit of time at the d'Orsay, where Michael was absolutely amazing in his breadth and depth of knowledge. He knows his stuff. I was in Paris with my teenage daughter, and Michael was taken with the Madonna theme. Each place we went, he focused on how mother and child were reflected in art and architecture. It made the tour very special.
We slipped into the Conciergerie, Marie Antoinette's last prison residence. The staff definitely knew Michael, and he was funny and delightful there.
We had a light lunch purchased from a boulangerie, eaten on a park bench and then went into a corner bookstore to purchase some books for my little boys. Who would have thought that French bookshop clerks would have no idea who Madeline is?
We made a super quick stop at the Louvre...Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, jewels, mother and child. Michael knows all the easy ins and outs so that you can make the most of your time.
We ended the day with some high fashion window shopping, going into Chanel, Dior, Bottega Veneta, Hermes. It was super fun and Michael clearly had been there multiple times with other clients. We then went to a lovely chocolate shop and shared some chocolates.
Michael took us back to Gare du Nord via the bus in time for our 6:30pm train to London.
As a Paris newbie, I'm sure my interests were things you've already seen. That said, I'm sure Michael could give you an amazing half day tour of things you've never seen, or even noticed, in Paris. I'm jealous...Enjoy!
