After having been picked up at the doorstep of your downtown hotel in Paris, you will be escorted by our 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 (in English, Spanish or French) 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.


(Lunch included: starter/main course or main course/dessert, wine and coffee.)

Transport back to the hotel not included. Tour ends at the Louvre.

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 1503-1506

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.