France: Paris Escape Experience

On your arrival at the airport, your private driver will be waiting for you to take you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to explore or relax.

Today in the morning your private guide will pick you up at your hotel. Together, you will walk 10 minutes from your hotel to join the Batobus on the Seine River, departure St Germain des Pres to the Louvre. Enjoy a private guided tour of the Louvre (skip the line ticket included). The Louvre is one of the largest palaces in the world and, as a former residence of the kings of France, one of the most illustrious. It exemplifies traditional French architecture since the Renaissance, and it houses a magnificent collection of ancient and Western art. After your tour, continue with your guide on the Batobus to reach the Eiffel Tower. When Gustave Eiffel’s company built Paris’ most recognizable monument for the 1889 World’s Fair, many people regarded the massive iron structure with skepticism. Today, the Eiffel Tower, which continues to serve an important role in television and radio broadcasts, is considered as an architectural wonder. You will have reservations for lunch at the Bistro Parisien, the quay side restaurant at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. After lunch, your guide will help you explore the tower (you can go to the 2nd floor directly). After your visit, your guide will take you past Notre Dame Cathedral. The Notre Dame Cathedral was one of the very first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction took place throughout the Gothic period (view outside only). Now after the horrific fire in 2019, restoration continues and they are hoping to have Notre Dame Cathedral open again in 2024. Then, your guide will take you back to your hotel on the Batobus or if you prefer, walking.

In the morning your private driver and guide will pick you up at your hotel for a private walking tour of Montmartre. Enjoy tracing the maple-dappled paths of Montmartre Cemetery to the resting places of the old Avant Garde — Edgar Degas, Gustave Moreau and Francis Picabia lie here, amongst the more obscure departed. Ride the cable car up the hill to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre. Built to cure the country's spiritual ills in the face of military defeat at the hands of Germany, the basilica expresses a singular faith in beauty's power to move. From the steps outside, amidst hawkers and street performers, the city succumbs to countless daubs of gray in the dusk. After the tour your guide will be happy to recommend some places to enjoy eating lunch in Montmartre. Your guide will take you to the restaurant of your choice, or take you back to your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to enjoy at your leisure.

Today enjoy a tour of the two must see sights in one day, Giverny and the Palace of Versailles. Set off at 8:15 am from our pick-up point in Central Paris. The journey to Giverny by luxury air-conditioned coach will take approximately one hour and 30 minutes. Soak up the world of the painter, Claude Monet, famous for painting different corners of his garden, like the "Water Lilies" or the "Japanese Bridge." The painter Claude Monet lived at Giverny with his wife and eight children for 43 years, from 1883 until his death in 1926. Passionate about gardening and nature's changing colors, he designed his flower and water gardens as if they were works of art. During your visit of Monet's garden at Giverny, admire the multicolored flower beds, the Clos Normand Flower Garden with its many Eastern plants, and the lush water garden, famous for its water lilies and Japanese bridge. Then take advantage of your free time to visit Claude Monet's pink-plastered house, where he lived and worked (guided tours of the interior are not permitted due to the lack of space). Explore the reading room, leading into the larder and the artist's studio. In addition to those of his private apartments, these rooms have been reconstructed with Monet's original furniture. Visit the bright yellow dining room, which has been reconstructed down to the very last detail, with earthenware dishes and a blue-tiled kitchen. In the dining room, marvel at one of the world's most important collections of Japanese prints. At the end of your visit, explore the village and treat yourself to some souvenir shopping in the gift and book shop, which was once used as a studio for Monet's Water Lilies which offers a wide range of products inspired by the artist's work. After visiting Giverny, enjoy a tasty lunch at the Moulin de Fourges restaurant just ten minutes away, where you will get to sample local food with a twist. In the afternoon, explore the Palace and Gardens of Versailles which covers more than 721,000 square feet and has over 700 rooms. Follow your guide to the front of the line to see the most impressive rooms: the King's Apartments, with seven salons each dedicated to a different god, and the Queen's Apartments. Also visit the majestic Hall of Mirrors, a reception room in which to see and be seen, dreamt up by the famous architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Almost 240 feet-long, it was designed to astonish visitors of the Sun King Louis XIV and is lit by 17 windows and 350 mirrors, and overlooks the palace's splendid gardens, the second part of your visit. Enjoy the guided visit of the Gardens of Versailles and marvel at its many works of art, fountains, ponds, flower beds and groves of trees. You will then return to Paris around 6:00 pm.

Today enjoy going on a one hour cruise on the Seine River to admire the iconic sights of Paris on a relaxing Seine River cruise. Enjoy panoramic views of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, and more iconic sights and see Paris from a different perspective. The rest of the day is free for you to enjoy on your own. You can spend some time at the Orsay Museum or shop in the fashion district, watch artists at work in Montmartre or take a seat in a café and sip on a glass of wine.

Today at the appropriate time, a private transfer will be waiting for you to take you to the airport for your flight back home.