Get to know Paris through the world of literature!
Duration
2:30 hours
Ben
I'm from Perth in Western Australia, and I'm living in my dream city of Paris, living my best life!
Pickup
Your guide Ben will be standing in front of the Louvre Pyramid (near the equestrian statue of King Louis XIV), holding a red umbrella!
Description
Discover Paris in a completely new way with this walking tour, telling the stories of Paris through the lens of literature!
Whether you're a bookworm or not, you'll be familiar with many of the works and authors we'll discuss on this tour. Visit famous Parisian landmarks and neighbourhoods as we get to know Paris from a unique angle!
The tour includes:
- We'll get to know the Louvre, from its time as a royal palace through The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, to its current use as an art museum through The da Vinci Code by renowned author Dan Brown!
- Discover the River Seine and the bridges of Paris with a tale of existential self-reflection The Fall, by Albert Camus!
- Encounter a mystery near your hotel through the detective novels of Cara Black, one set in each of Paris's 20 arrondissements!
- At the iconic literary cafés Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots, put yourself in the shoes of the authors who could once be found there, including Ernest Hemingway, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and James Baldwin!
- Discuss changing social norms with the prosecution and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, standing in front of the Parisian hotel where he died in exile.
- See how France's medical laws have evolved with France's most recent Nobel Literature Prize winner, Annie Ernaux!
- Learn about the oldest part of Paris, Île de la Cité - and by Toutatis!, it's Astérix!
- At the Conciergerie, take a trip back to the French Revolution with A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens!
- Finally, at the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, we'll finish with the novel of that name by the great Victor Hugo!
Your native-English speaking guide Ben is a dedicated bookworm, super enthusiastic, and lover of Paris!