Nicole's Tours

Paris Walking Tours

Following is a list of some popular city sites. For more tour details, please click on the respective site name.

City Island
Rive Gauche - Left Bank
Rive Droite – Right Bank
Marais
Montmartre
Quarter of the Opéra
Cemetery Père Lachaise
Seine River
Gardens' tour
Ethnic tours
Trendy quarters
Shopping tours

City Island

Ile de la Cité , the birth place of Paris where the first tribe settled down around 2 300 years ago. This has always been the political and religious centre since the Romans.

There is the Cathedral Notre Dame and the first royal residence with its remains located in the Palace of Justice : the Sainte Chapelle and the Conciergerie.

This tour can include these 3 interior visits :

The Cathedral Notre Dame which is one the oldest gothic church

The Sainte Chapelle : the Holy Chapel built thanks to King St Louis to house the crown of thorns of Christ has a magnificent collection of 13 th century stained glass windows.

The Conciergerie: has impressive medieval rooms ; former residence, administrative centre and prison especially connected to the French Revolution .

Rive Gauche - Left Bank

The Latin quarter with its roman remains is also the historic students' Section with the oldest university La Sorbonne.
Saint Germain des Près called after an abbey once located in the fields is well known for its atmosphere, the cafés, fashion shops, art galleries, tea houses and the Luxembourg garden.

Our tour will show you the sights of these 2 historic sections of Paris while going through the tiny medieval streets.

Rive Droite – Right Bank

The right bank has been the traditional commercial center of Paris where the Main harbour was located ; the harbour's authorities organised the city administration.

We still use their emblem as coats of arms: the boat and their latin Motto .

Fluctuat Nec Mergitur: “ the boat flows and won't sink”.

From the Hôtel de Ville, Centre of the city administration we will go to the former central food market passing by the Pompidou centre and heading to the Louvre, a former fortress marking western limit of the historic Paris .

We will see the 2 courtyards of the Louvre, presenting you the history of the 2nd residence of the Kings which was then turned into a huge museum.

Marais

This is an old section of Paris located on the right bank between the Hôtel de Ville, Republic Square and Bastille Square.

It used to be a swamp area hence the name of this delightful quarter of Paris with many old mansions built between a courtyard and a garden. They offer many surprises : green ones in the historical heart of Paris. A magnificent combination between garden and architecture !

The Marais is one of the very few parts of Paris to present an urbanism prior the major transformations made during the 19cy at the time of the Baron Haussmann.

During this tour, I will show you the aristocratic mansions and the exquisite former royal square : the Place des Vosges .

Montmartre

An important religious centre with its 12cy church St Pierre and the Basilica Sacré Coeur, Montmartre used to be a village located at the edge of Paris .This section of our capital has kept a country like atmosphere with its vineyards, the wind mill Moulin de la Galette…

This very picturesque quarter attracted many artists who settled down in the Bateau Lavoir ; among them, Picasso who painted his first cubic work : les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

Montmartre still attracts artists who are now working on the place du Tertre.

My tour will show you the romantic atmosphere of the movie Amélie as well as a complete view of the highlights :

The Vineyard: yes, we make wine in Paris!

The Moulin de la Galette painted by Renoir

The Place du Tertre

The Churches Sacré Cœur and St Peter...

Quarter of the Opéra

By the Opéra theatre, you are in the heart of the 19cy urbanism due to Napoléon III who decided to reorganise Paris with big squares, avenues lined up with trees.

A few steps from the Opera, there are, out of the way, many covered galleries, discreet jewels from the beginning of the 19 cy, prior to Haussmann's major transformations. There were the first shopping malls, interesting for both their architecture and sociology.

My tour will show you the Opéra Square , the Opéra Avenue which is the only one in Paris not being lined up with trees and the so called “Passages couverts” offering a covered walk from the Opéra square to the Louvre .

Possibility of visiting the Opéra Theatre, with its fantastic stair

where the mundane show could already take place with its phantom !

And not to forget the ceiling painted by Marc Chagall…..

Cemetery Père Lachaise

The largest cemetery in Paris laid out in 1804 where many generals of the 1st empire are buried and many other personalities

Chopin

Edith Piaf

Jim Morisson

Héloise and Abélard, the most romantic lovers of Paris

Oscar Wilde who died in Paris

Victor Noir and its legends…and more

My tour will show you the tomb of personalities and the most interesting monuments of this huge cemetery. Many are historical Landmarks.

Seine River

The Seine makes a big loop in our city is very much related to the origin of Paris.

Paris was born on a crossroad between the river and the roads crossing it thanks to the bridges.

I will propose you a walk along the river from Saint Louis Island to the City island telling you the history of the many bridges, the harbour and the fusion between the city and its river.

Another angle to visit Paris ! I will suggest you to do a boat ride too.

Gardens' Tour

Paris has so many parks and gardens that I can offer you
either an half day tour or a full day tour.

This tour gives you another way to see Paris through the evolution of the Garden's styles from the royal gardens
to the parks laid out in the 19 cy when Paris was completely redesigned and up to the newly created parks such as André Citroen Park ………..

Ethnic Tours

I will show you the many different cultures of our city.

The Chinese quarter

The Jewish Paris

The African quarter

The Tibetan temple

Trendy Quarters

Quarter Oberkampf close to Republic Square used to be a working class district with lots of small industries which are today transformed into studios, lofts and trendy cafés.
I will show you these transformations.

East End of Paris : Bercy and Tolbiac
Bercy on the right bank with its new park laid out on the side of the warehouses for wine ; some wineries are still kept.
Tolbiac on the left bank with his New library and the newly created Avenue de France.

This is the most important transformation in urbanism since the last century.

Shopping Tours

Jewels around the Place Vendôme with its surprises
Art Galleries in the Marais or in St Germain
Flea Market – orientation tour of this huge market
Department Stores
Delicacies