Paris City Tour + Guided Tour of the Louvre |
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TOUR DESCRIPTION
After having been picked up at the doorstep of your downtown hotel in Paris,
you will be escorted by your driver-guide who will take you for a leisure
guided ride of Paris. This is surely the best way to discover Paris in the
comfort of an air-conditioned minibus. During this tour you will learn about
the history of Paris and admire the major attractions of the Capital City:
Champs-Elysees, The Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero*,
Opera Garnier, Invalides, Concorde Square, Notre-Dame Cathedral*,
Vendome Square, Montmartre* (Sacred Heart,
Place du Tertre), Louvre, Madeleine Church...
* About 15-20 minutes stops.
Around noon, you will be dropped off for lunch in the Opéra district
before continuing your excursion in the afternoon with a guided tour of
the Louvre Museum, and in particular its 3 main works: the Venus de Milo,
the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo
da Vinci at the beginning of the 16th century. You will then be free to
spend a little more time in the Louvre to visit other sections of the
largest museum in the world.
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THIS TOUR WILL NOT BE CONDUCTED ON JANUARY 1ST, MAY 1ST AND DECEMBER 25TH
Season: All Year Round
Scheduled Days: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays.
Departure Time: From 8.10 am
Duration: Approximately 8 hours
Pick up point: From your accommodation in Paris
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Client’ Feedback |
 Feedback on 7/21/2011 from Vladimir
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 Feedback on 12/14/2011 from Naomi
For the most part, I really enjoyed this tour. It provide a nice overview of the city, allowed me to get my bearings somewhat, and the driver provided many interesting facts and anecdotes. However, I chose this mini-van tour rather than a private one since I was exploring Paris on my own for some of our trip (while my husband was attending a workshop), and I liked the idea of having the company of other tourists. However, it turned out that there were only two others (a couple) on the city tour with me, and they only spoke Spanish. So the entire trip consisted of the driver first giving the commentary in Spanish, and then English or vice versa. This meant he was speaking almost non-stop the entire time, and left very little time for questions and chat, and of course, we could not understand each others questions and the replies where there was the time. In retrospect, I would have preferred to go on a private tour, or else paid a lot less, and just gone on a audio bus tour. I felt that it was not made clear that there would (or could) be others speaking different languages on the same tour. I assumed that several versions of the tour ran at the same time, and I would be put in the "English" van. I can''t imagine how the tour could work if there had been more people, and a third (or more!) languages spoken.
The other negative aspect of this, is that I then had to spend the two hour lunch break sitting alone in the restaurant, when it was the kind of restaurant where no one else was eating alone .. I had not brought a book or anything to ready/do since, again, I had chosen this tour for the company I would supposedly have ..
For the afternoon at the Louvre, we met up with some other participants, and this time there were two guides, one in English for 4 of us, and the spanish-speaking couple went off with their own guide. So no complaints there. My guide was the same as in the morning - a French gentleman with excellent English, and he provided a very interesting and illuminating tour. I had never had a guided tour of an art gallery before, and never studies art myself, and now I will always go with a guide!
So, in summary, the guide and the tours themselves were excellent - really enjoyed them, and found them very useful. However, I felt the company was misleading in the way it advertised the options of different languages. I thought I would only be with other English speaking travellers, and there would be more of us. (I assumed the the trips would not go ahead if there was not a full (or nearly full) van of people who wanted commentary in a particular language). My mistake. |
Feedback on 5/18/2011 from Michael Trolio
Overall, the experience met all expectations. However, the chauffeur is also the tour guide. In Parisian traffic, this seems too demanding for one person. I was a bit afraid to ask the chauffeur questions for fear that we might have a collision. Of course I understand that having one person as a dedicated tour guide and another as the chauffeur would create a price increase. But I would be willing to pay the additional cost. This is my only negative, and minor, criticism. |
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Louvre
Guided Tour Preview
"Victory of Samothrace"
Samothrace (island in the North Aegean Sea) Circa 190 BC
For the Greeks, the goddess of Victory (Nike) was a beautiful
young woman endowed with wings. This exceptional monument, raised
upon the isle of Samothrace, set in a niche overlooking the sanctuary
of the Great Gods, celebrates success at sea. The goddess stands
on the prow of a galley, resisting the gusty storm, her right arm
undoubtedly held high. It was an ex-voto of the Rhodians for a victory
won at the beginning of the 2nd century BC: the attitude and the
animated draping prefigure the reliefs for the altar of Pergamum.
"Venus de Milo" Melos (the Cyclades islands) Circa 100 BC
In spite of lacking attributes, the size and the attitude of
this statue allow its identification as a goddess: Aphrodite, often
represented half nude, or Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, venerated
on the island of Melos. The style is characteristic of the late
Hellenistic period, which revives classical themes while innovating.
Thus the slipping drapery on the hips entails a closed stance and
introduces an instancy to the figure. It hides the joint between
the two blocks of marble that were sculpted separately, as were
the left arm and leg, according to an utterly new technique.
The Mona Lisa (1479 - d. before 1550) also known as La Gioconda
If
Vasari is correct, the portrait which Leonardo took to France, that
was acquired by Francois I, was of the Mona Lisa, who in 1495 married
Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanoli del Giocondo. The title "La Gioconda"
would thus derive from this notable Florentine's surname. But in
Italian "gioconda" also means a light-hearted woman. With a lasting
effect on Italian art, this portrait stood for an ideal. The smile
that gives her life is, however, a feature of many of Leonardo's
figures. Several scholars have concluded that the portrait was worked
on over a long period, starting around (1505-1506 in Florence, and
it was finished during the course of Leonardo's peregrinations in
Milan or Rome.
Content:
extract from The Louvre Official Website / www.louvre.fr
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