Ghost / Haunted tours in Paris?
 

So far I haven't been able to find any information on ghost tours in Paris. It seems hard to believe there wouldn't be any. My wife and I are going in two weeks and this is one of the activities we've enjoyed in a number of US cities and London. Are there any such tours (walking or otherwise) with English-speaking guides that someone can recommend in Paris? Thanks.

Hi, thinkdude!
There are some "creepy" type tours, I'm sure, such as the catacombs, but I don't know if there are any haunted mansions around! I seem to remember that Larry Lain's book "Paris for Families" had a whole chapter on creepy sites in Paris (my daughter made a note of the three or four creepiest-sounding), so that might be a book to get hold of.

seriously, I don't think ghosts are a very French concept, despite the Phantom of the Opera (which is the only time I've heard of a ghost related to anything in France). I think that's more of an English cultural thing which was carried to the US. Now that story by Leroux was fiction, anyway, although I have taken a tour of the basement where he supposedly hung out but it's not that interesting -- basements of theaters usually aren't (tour is a special one not generally for the public).

I've never heard of a haunted house in Paris, but there is one at Disneyland Paris, of course.

Christina said essentially what I was going to say - ghosts aren't a big concept in France or Paris. In all the zillions of years I've been going to Paris I've never heard of a Ghost tour or anything like it. There are châteaux in the French countryside that are supposedly haunted by ghosts - there's one in the Dordogne, the Puy Martin, which has La Dame Blanche who supposedly haunts the place - but I think that's kind of an anomaly. Ghosts just aren't very French.

Thanks for the tips. That is an interesting cultural difference. I personally don't believe in ghosts, but I find the stories about them fascinating.

I don't know of any ghost tours in Paris (too bad - it would be kind of fun!) but be sure to take some time to walk through Pere Lachaise cemetery! Easy to reach via metro.

Hey, I was looking for info on this also...

Topping for current info.

The French words for ghost (fantôme or revenant) just don't have the same connotation as the ghost in English.

"You look like you've seen a ghost" comes out as "T'as l'air d'avoir vu un revenant" - just doesn't have the same "oooh" factor.

If anybody knows in Paris about "ghost tours" and such if they at all exist - because mostly English speakers would be interested in such a thing - it might be the folks at the Village Voice (American Bookshop) at 6, rue Princesse 75006 Paris. Drop by, it's in St. Germain in the rabbit-warren of charming little streets.

I just Googled for it in French and absolutely nothing turned up. There are "phantom voters" who have voted in certain elections although they are dead, and "phantom metro stations" (a few abandoned ones), and even some "phantom students" who did not sign up for their 2nd year studies, but not the sign of a ghost anywhere.

here's some thoughts on this:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34814287