Places of Interest

The Pantheon
Constructed by Louis XV in 1744 in gratitude for recovering from gout, this massive temple to the great men of France houses the bodies of Voltaire, Rousseau, Mirabeau, Marat, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Jean Moulin (hero of the French Resistance during WWII).

Shakespeare and Company
Situated on the Quay just east of Place St-Michel, moved here after its location on rue de l'Odeon. This charming and chaotic bookstore is housed in an old building and run by the charitable octogenarian George Bates Whitman and his daughter Sylvia Beach Whitman, who have made it a meeting place for writers and expatriates. Nearby, on quai de la Tournelle, is the famous restaurant, La Tour d' Argent.

Moorish Paris

The Mosque of Paris
Is a Moorish-style building with soaring Minarets and pink marble fountains. It is a wonderful place to have a massage (hamman) and afterwards sit in the courtyard and sip sweet mint tea.

The Arab Institute
Designed by Jean Nouvelle to resemble the boats that carried Algerians; Moroccan and Tunisian immigrants to France. The institute has a unique shutter-like window system which opens and closes automatically triggered by the sun. There is a Moroccan restaurant on the roof and a superb view over Paris from the rooftop terrace.

Mansions

St-Julien-le-Pauvre:
12th century church, built on the site of a 6th century chapel, one of the oldest churches in Paris. Since 1889 it has belonged to the Melichite sect of the Greek Orthodox Church. St-Severin: Built over 450 years from the 13th century and is famed for its Flamboyant Gothic vaulted interior.

St-Etienne du Mont:
Built 1492-1626 is dedicated to the patron saint of Paris, Saint Genevieve. There is a magnificent architectural feature of a rood screen along with a number of noted stained glass contained in the sacristy. St. Genevieve was born in 422 and became a nun. In 449 the Franks lay siege to the city of Paris and Genevieve led an expedition for the relief of the starving population. She brought back supplies which enabled the resistance to continue. When Attila the Hun, in 451, threatened to march on Paris, the inhabitants decided to abandon the city. Genevieve assembled the women of the town in church to fast and pray. She emerged to tell the Parisians: "Forsake not your homes for God has heard my prayers. Attila shall retreat." Attila did change his course to bypass Paris.

Evening Activities

Dinner Cruises on the Don Juan Yacht
Every evening Yachts de Paris invites you to enjoy a gourmet dinner by the celebrated chef 2 Stars Michelin Chef Jean-Pierre Vigato on an unforgettable cruise aboard one of their magnificent yachts.
More Details

Paradis Latin Cabaret
Paradis Latin welcomes you to the oldest Parisian cabaret and totally renovated, for an evening in its theatre built by Gustave Eiffel to watch the latest show "Paradis d’Amour"
More Details

Adventures thru the Lens

From humble church to towering cathedral, Notre-Dame is the world-famous jewel in the crown of the Ile de la Cite, the original Paris before the city outgrew its island boundaries. But this whole area is steeped in history and secrets just waiting to be discovered.

We will enter the moving and visually stunning monument to the deportation. We will roam the banks of the river and the twisting backstreets rich in atmosphere and echoes of the past. And we will investigate the legendary Latin Quarter, ending our tour in a typical French bistro for a glass of wine and a friendly photo critique of our efforts (for those of us who took our photos digitally, of course).
More Details

Private Walking Tours

A Medieval Sampler
Including the famous St. Germain des Pres Abbey (built, destroyed and rebuilt from the 6th to 19th centuries), the 13th century Cordeliers monastery refectory, and the 15th century Cluny abbots' "townhouse" - now a marvelous museum on the Middle Ages, Place Maubert where a 16th century printer was burnt alive for heresy for having re-translated one of Plato's Dialogues, and the Bernardins Monastery refectory dating from the 13th century.

Learning in Paris
University and student life (not always very calm!) from the 12th through the 16th centuries, via different "colleges" frequented by students as different as St. Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) and Protestant reformer Jean Calvin.

Around rue de la Huchette: Heart of the Latin Quarter
Beginning on "Here Lies The Heart Street" (its original Medieval name was far less romantic!), this walk takes in architectural reminiscences of Renaissance King Francois Ier, 19th century poet Charles Baudelaire, a 16th century Royal Prosecutor who O-D'd here on opium, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Then: a series of antique punning shop signs, the oldest tree in Paris, the intimate 12th-13th century St. Julien le Pauvre church and other medieval memories.

The Mouffetard Quaint Quarter
A highway leaving Paris for Rome 2,000 years ago, Rue Mouffetard still boasts a street market that has functioned since about 1350, not to forget a public fountain erected by Marie de Medici, and church that briefly hosted a convulsionist sect ("barkers," "meowers," "jumpers," etc.) in the 1700s. This tour also takes in the house where Ernest Hemingway lived in the 1930s and segments of the Medieval city rampart.
More Details

Left Bank Wine Promenade
The aim of this wine tour is to immerse you in the authentic wine and bar culture of Paris. We have chosen to concentrate on the 5th arrondissement on the Left Bank because of its historic associations and interesting and picturesque ambience.
More Details