susan4

Still looking for opinions on regular museum tours vs private tour companies.
DH and I will be in Paris in 2 weeks. First time at Louvre. I love art and art history; DH not so much. Hope to have tour that will be enjoyable for both of us. Looking at Paris Muse tours, 95 Euro each. Any other recommendations? Thanks.

stormbird

I can recommend Michael Osman - his email is mailto[email protected].

We booked Michael for two days during our visit to Paris last year. Although Michael was ill he sent his mate Scott Emerson in his place.

We had the best time with Scott and it was money extremely well spent.

They can 'shortcut' you through the Louvre - taking you to just the 'biggies', if that's what you want or you can have a more detailed tour. No matter you work personally with Michael to come up with what YOU want.

His excellent daily rate makes this an extremely viable option and there are many others on this board who would agree.

stormbird

Sorry, I should have previewed first it should be [email protected]

I also meant to say fast track instead of short cut.

yk

I already replied on your other post.

I cannot imagine paying 95euros for a private tour. Does that mean it'll be 190 euros for both of you? How can you be sure the private tour will interest your husband more than the Louvre's own guided tour?

If he doesn't enjoy art, why not just have him go sightseeing somewhere else for the day while you just enjoy Louvre by yourself? That way, you don't have to worry about him being bored etc. That's what I would do if I were in your situation. Fortunately, my husband loves art as much as I do.

Graziella5b

I think the Louvre offers tour groups. Which should be ok. I took one ages ago. rate should be reasonable only of few euros.

abranz

stormbird,
how easy was it to get a hold of michael?
i have e-mailed him twice since september and have not heard back as yet.
should i give up and look for some one else or do i hold out hope to hear from michael?

stormbird

Hi A,

Just send him another friendly reminder email and he will get back to you. I too, had to do this but felt it was worth the effort.

Susan,

We had Scott for the whole day so we not only covered the Louvre but a number of sites that we also wanted to see. The second day was largely a case of 'show us your Paris, Scott' and it was a great day.

Michael should be able to come up with a great day that will keep you both happy and again his rate is extremely reasonable.

Momof5

Hi
I to had Micheal last year and he is a steal at 95 euros total, at least that is what we paid. He did not go into the Louvre with us but instead took us all over Paris. I saw neighborhoods, parks etcx I would have never gone to. Nest time I will use him at the Louvre, but he had been with us for 8 hours already.

He is the best and worth the wait. Just last week he helped me on a paper I was writing on Paris for school and responded same day. I just think he procrastinates, I too had to send several e-mails to get in touch with him. Try him for more then the Louvre ask to see his Paris he will go anywhere you want.
Tell him a Diva sent you! Ha-ha.

djkbooks

Here's another huge recommendation for Michael Osman. It's not that he procrastinates. Rather, when he's busy touring all day every day with people, he has only early morning and late at night to respond to e-mail inquiries. And, he prefers to send a detailed response. He answers them in order of dates requested, which is why you may have to wait a while, especially if you inquire far in advance or in the very busy nice weather.

abranz

my trip to paris is not until april so i guess that explains why michael has not rushed to respond.
i will be patient nudge him again in march??

MobileRob

I think you'd be fine with the Louvre Museum's guided tour (www.louvre.fr), especially since it's your first time. It lasts about 90 minutes. I took a city tour with Aeon Tours (www.aeontours.com) a few months ago while there, and it was well worth it. I had read a lot about bike tours vs. walking tours, and I would definitely recommend a walking tour of the city over anything else.

knoxvillecouple

Yet one more vote for Michael. If you haven't already, check out his web page, where he identifies a number of thematic tours that you can select or use as skeletons to build your own tour.

We asked Michael to give us (4 adults) a modified version of his Underground Paris. Our modification was to get rid of the sewers (although I'm sure they are interesting) and focus on where dead people are buried. He picked us up at our apartment at 9:00 in the morning (our choice), we took a bus to Montparnasse Cemetery, spent the better part of 2.5 hours there, then crepes for lunch near the cemetery, a walk through the neighborhood, a bus to the Pantheon for an hour or so, then metro to Pere Lachaise Cemetery for another 2-3 hours, ending up in Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. We got back to our apartment at 8:00 pm - it turned out that Michael's and Scott's apartment was about 5 blocks from ours.

The total cost - as I recall it was 100 euros for 4 adults, plus we bought his lunch (all of 12 euros I think). He was fabulous.

And, as with others here, I had to be patient to get in touch with him. It turned out that his grandmother (in Philadelphia I think) had died and he'd been out of pocket for a while. And yes, he does write you detailed e-mails when he finally gets around to you.

I wouldn't wait until March to try again - maybe once again in January and then keep trying. I also sent him an email to his facebook page as well as his email address given on his web page.

Good luck,

Sam

off2CU

I went on the Louvre's guided tour two summers ago. Our tour guide was fantastic. There were probably 15-20 people. The guide talked into a headset and we each listened on earphones. It was great because it was a live tour but you didn't have to strain to hear her. The only bad thing was that she was short so when we went into the super crowded rooms, we sometimes couldn't find her.

Apparently they fill up quickly. We got in line prior to the museum opening. Once in side, we paid our museum ticket and then went immediately to the group office which was located behind the main ticket counter. I have in my trip ledger that I paid 14 euros for my trip to the Louvre but certainly double check pricing on the website.

TPaxe

The Louvre has wonderful guides and I took one last year and found it most enjoyable. I wouldn't pay Euro95 per person! If you had a family of four it would be Euro380 (US$500)!!

Gretchen

I see someone recommended Michael. Best spent money you'll ever do. He is exceptional in explaining art. I told him he should consider teaching.