Paris Walks
 

When we were in London, we did a couple of the Original London Walks and really enjoyed them. They gave us a brochure for similar Paris walks but I can't find it. I can't find a link on the Original London Walk site, does anyone know what the web address is? Thanks

Is this it? http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pariswalking/

I think it is, thanks Zeppo2!

Has anyone taken walks with this company? Would you recommend them and which tour? We will be there in late December.

Hi Kristi,

I've enjoyed Paris Walks very much. All their guides are fun and knowledgeable. The tours I've done are:
Pere Lachaise cemetery
Marais
Montmartre (twice)
Hemingway
St-Germain-des-Pres
Ile-de-la-Cite

I've also done a half-day bus tour to Vaux-le-Vicomte with Paris Walks.

If you enjoy short tours like these try to catch the free English Notre Dame tour on Wednesday and Thursday at 12:00 and Saturday at 12:30. The tour is given by volunteers and lasts 1.5 hours (this tour is not affiliated with Paris Walks).

We have only done the Writers of the Left Bank with Paris Walks, but it was well done and worthwhile.

Thanks for the input adrienne and jd_dallas! And thanks for the Notre Dame tip as well, sounds interesting (and it's free!) And for reminding me about Vaux-le-Vicomte, I really should make a list of all the things I've missed when I get back so I have them for the next trip :-)

Is there anything similar offered in French?

Paris Walks had some walks in French this past summer. I just took a look at their November schedule and didn't see any walks in French listed. You could send them an email and ask about walks conducted in French.

I also enjoyed the walks on http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pariswalking/ . The price was reasonable, the tour guides were interesting, and they could recommend places to eat afterwards. I will use them again when I return in April.

There have been city walks in paris for many many years in French, those are the best ones IMO. There are guides who register with the city and offer walks on itineraries they develop. They have more narrow focus and of detailed interest than the Paris Walks, which are of more appeal to first-time visitors and cover the real basics that a tourist would want to see.

I always take 1-2 of the walks in French when I'm in Paris and can squeeze them in. They are cheap, and are very small groups. It's a good way to brush up on your French as you should enjoy the tour even if you don't understand quite everything the guide says. Some of the guides are legends and very wellknown, such as Vincent Langlade, if you have a chance for his, take it. He specializes in the cemeteries, but occasionally does other things. these walks are daily. Because they're in French, they tend to be mainly French tourists, of course, with some French-Canadians and others like me who know some French.

As just a little example, in my Pariscope here, for a Saturday last June there were about 20 of these specialized walks, they last about 2 hrs, usually, and cost 5-10 euro. As an example of some of the specialized topics, they included:

one specializing in locations from the Simenon detective novels, one on Chinatown including the largest Buddist Chinese temple in France, one on the covered passageways, one on the Goutte d'Or quarter, one on private "hotels" and gardens and unknown passages of old St-Germain; one on the hospital La Pitie-Salpetriere, one on Buttes aux Cailles, one on locations related to r 19th cen classical musicians (Berlioz, etc) and so on. There are also more common ones such as the Ile St-Louis, Montmartre, Luxembourg Gardens, etc.

You can find all these in an entertainment guide such as Pariscope or l'Officiel des Spectacles, they are listed under "Conferences". You don't need to sign up or anything, just show up at the time and location given, which is usually a metro stop.

ttt