Private Guided Tour of Vaux le Vicomte castle : History

Vaux-le-Vicomte castle is a classique French château located 55 km southeast from Paris. It was built from 1658 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, viscount of Melun and Vaux, who was the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV.

This château influenced the whole European architecture in the mid-17th century. At Vaux-le-Vicomte, the architect Louis Le Vau, the landscape architect André le Nôtre and the painter-decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large-scale project for the first time. Their collaboration marked the beginning of the “Louis XIV style”, combining architecture, interior design and landscape design. The garden’s pronounced visual axis is an example of this style.

Fouquet was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He fell out of favor with the young king, probably because of his extravagant displays of wealth, and the king had him imprisoned from 1661 until his death in 1680. Some say he met the “Man in the Iron mask” during his stay in jail…

Private Guided Tour of Vaux le Vicomte castle : take the Tour

Your Private Guide takes you to explore the castle, but also the park (possible to visit the park with an electric car) and, depending on your wishes, the surprising Blandy les Tours castle and village…

Masterpiece of the emerging classicism architectural style, the atmosphere of Vaux-le-Vicomte will captivate you, while your Private Guide will reveal to you the secrets of the annals of time…

Private Guided Tour of Vaux le Vicomte castle : details

Your Private Guided Tour of Vaux le Vicomte castle lasts 6 hours. If you don’t have your own vehicle, we can also organize transportation with a private limousine or van.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of Vaux le Vicomte castle : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of Vaux le Vicomte castle…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided of the historic Latin Quarter : History

In the Middle Age, the Latin Quarter housed the first universities of Paris. Now, an impressive number of schools are still located there : the heart of the Latin Quarter is the famous “Sorbonne university”, located on Montagne Sainte Geneviève.

In the 1960s and particularly during the events of May 1968, this district was the heart of the various student protests…

Private Guided of the historic Latin Quarter : take the Tour

Through the Latin Quarter narrow streets, your Private Guide takes you to discover the hidden details and the medieval atmosphere of the district, with its charming old streets, its beautiful churches, like St Severin and St Julien le pauvre, the gothic Hôtel Particulier of Cluny and its garden, but also the major Roman ruins and the history of the famous Sorbonne university…

Private Guided of the historic Latin Quarter : details

Your Private Guided of the historic Latin Quarter lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided of the historic Latin Quarter : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided of the historic Latin Quarter…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided Tour of World War 2 in Paris : History

On 14 June 1940, 5 weeks after the start of the “Battle of France”, the undefended Paris fell to German occupation forces.

The German forces remained in Paris until the city was liberated in August 1944 after a resistance uprising, 2.5 months after the Normandy invasion.

Central Paris endured World War 2 practically unscathed, as there were no strategic targets for Allied bombers (train stations in central Paris were terminal stations and major factories were located in the suburbs). Also, German General von Choltitz did not destroy all Parisian monuments before any German retreat, as ordered by Adolf Hitler…

Private Guided Tour of World War 2 in Paris : take the Tour

Your Private Guided Tour of Paris during World War 2 starts at the Place de la Concorde. It drives you to discover the center of Paris, between Concorde, Rivoli and Opera… Throughout the Tour, your Private Guide discusses the 4 years of World War 2 experienced by Paris between May 1940 and August 1944, passing by symbolic places of the Occupation: the Kommandantur (Opera), the Ministry of Navy / Marineministerium (Place de la Concorde), the Hotel Meurice (residence of Von Choltitz, Commander of Gross Paris), etc…

Private Guided Tour of World War 2 in Paris : details

Your Private Guided Tour of World War 2 in Paris lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of World War 2 in Paris : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of World War 2 in Paris…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Related useful information :
Looking for battlefield Private Guided Tours ? You can also visit :
WW2 Battlefield Tours in France

Private Guided Tour of l’Ile de la Cité : history

In 52 BC, at the time of Vercingetorix’s struggle against Julius Caesar, a small Gallic tribe, the Parisii, lived on this island. At that time, the island was a low-lying area subject to flooding… But it also offered a convenient place to cross the Seine river and to protect from invasions.

After the conquest of the Celts, the Roman Labienus created a temporary camp on the island.

Later, Clovis, the first French King, established a Merovingian palace on the island, which became the capital of Merovingian Neustria. The island remained an important military and political center throughout the Middle Age. Odo used the island as a defensive position to fend off Viking attacks at the Siege of Paris (885–886), and Notre-Dame cathedral was built on the island in the 11-12th centuries.

The Ile de la Cité still remains the heart of Paris. And some kind of France too : all road distances in France are calculated from the 0 km point located in the Place du Parvis of Notre-Dame cathedral…

Private Guided Tour of l’Ile de la Cité : take the Tour

Your Private Guided Tour of Ile de la Cité starts in the center of the island, and drives you to the discovery of the island history, as a center of trade and politics, which housed royal palaces, institutions and municipal courts but also the largest market in Paris…

From La Conciergerie and Notre Dame to the City Hall, between the Seine and the Jardin des Halles, you will discover the history of Paris’ heart…

Private Guided Tour of l’Ile de la Cité : useful information

Your Private Guided Tour of l’Ile de la Cité lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of l’Ile de la Cité : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of l’Ile de la Cité…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided Tour of “Lutetia”, the Ancient Paris : History

The earliest archaeological signs of permanent settlements in the Paris area date back to 4200 BC.

Later on, the Parisii, a Celtic tribe, inhabited the area near the Seine river from around 250 BC.

The Romans conquered the Paris basin in 52 BC, with a permanent settlement by the end of the same century on the left bank of the Seine River, on the Sainte Geneviève hill and the Île de la Cité (island). The Gallo-Roman town was originally called Lutetia, or Lutetia Parisorum but later Gallicised to Lutèce. Located at the crossroads of different trade routes, it expanded greatly over the following centuries, becoming a prosperous city with a forum, palaces, baths, temples, theatres, and an amphitheatre.

The collapse of the Roman empire and the fights against Germanic invasions (5th-century) lead the city to a period of decline. By AD 400, Lutèce, largely abandoned by its inhabitants, was no little more than a garrison town entrenched into a hastily fortified central island.

The city reclaimed its original appellation of “Paris” towards the end of the Roman occupation.

Private Guided Tour of “Lutetia”, the Ancient Paris : take the Tour

In Roman times, Lugdnum (Lyon) was the capital of the Province. Lutetia (Paris), was a simple Gallo-Roman city. However, it was doted with prestigious buildings, still visible today. Your Private Tour takes you on a 5 centuries long trip through the history of Ancient Paris…

Your Private Guide takes you to the Arena, the Forum (at the crossroads of Soufflot and Saint Jacques streets), then to the thermal baths of Cluny and to some other relics in the Latin Quarter. Finally, if you wish, your Private Tour can end with the visit of the Crypt of the Notre-Dame Cathedral…

Private Guided Tour of “Lutetia”, the Ancient Paris : details

Your Private Guided Tour of “Lutetia”, the Ancient Paris lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of “Lutetia”, the Ancient Paris : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of “Lutetia”, the Ancient Paris…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided Tour of King Henri IV’s Paris : History

Henri IV (1553 – 1610), was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France.

As a Huguenot, Henri IV was involved in the Wars of Religion before ascending the throne in 1589. Before his coronation as King of France at Chartres, he changed his faith from Calvinism to Catholicism and, in 1598, he enacted the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants, thereby effectively ending the civil war. As one of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign, Henry showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time.

He was assassinated by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic.

He is the inspiration behind King Ferdinand of Navarre in William Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost”.

Private Guided Tour of King Henri IV’s Paris : take the Tour

King Henri IV was a great builder and gave many prestigious buildings to Paris.

Your Private Guided Tour takes you into the footsteps of this monarch’s too short reign : from the Place Dauphine, the Pont Neuf to the Ferronerie street where he was murdered and then to St Paul where you will admire the “Hôtel Particulier” of his famous minister Sully, the famous Place des Vosges and much more monuments related to the King…

Private Guided Tour of King Henri IV’s Paris : details

Your Private Guided Tour of King Henri IV’s Paris lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of King Henri IV’s Paris : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of King Henri IV’s Paris…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided Tour of Champs Elysées : History

The Champs Élysées was originally fields and market gardens, until 1616, when Marie de Medicis decided to extend the axis of the Tuileries Garden with an avenue of trees.

In 1724, the Tuileries Garden axis and the avenue were connected and extended, leading beyond the Place de l’Étoile.

By the late 18th century, the Champs Élysées had become a fashionable avenue: the bosquet plantings on either side had thickened enough to be given formal rectangular glades (cabinets de verdure). We can’t also deny that the Champs Elysées has a bad reputation at that time : many cabarets and bars were settled among the gardens…

Private Guided Tour of Champs Elysées’ History : take the Tour

Through the gardens and the Champs Elysées avenue, your Private Guide takes you to discover the history of the famous avenue. Program: the Rond Point des Champs Elysées, its mansions, the Grand and Petit Palais, the Palais de la Découverte, the innumerable statues of the avenue…

Private Guided Tour of Champs Elysées’ History : details

Your Private Guided Tour of Champs Elysées’ History lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of Champs Elysées’ History : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of Champs Elysées’ History…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Montmarte History Private Guided Tour : History

Since Montmartre was for long outside the city limits, free of Paris taxes and no doubt also due to the fact that the local nuns made wine, the hill quickly became a popular drinking area. The area developed into a centre for decadent entertainment at the end of the 19th with popular cabarets like “le Moulin Rouge” and “le Chat Noir”, where artists, singers and performers regularly appeared, including Yvette Guilbert, Aristide Bruant, La Goulue, Mistinguett…

When Napoleon III and his city planner Baron Haussmann planned to transform Paris into the most beautiful city in Europe, the first step was to grant large sweeps of land near the centre of the city to Haussmann’s friends and financial supporters. This drove many original inhabitants of Paris’ center to go Montmartre hill.

One of Montmartre highlights, the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, was built from 1876 to 1912 by public subscription as a gesture of expiation of the “crimes of the communards”, after the Paris Commune events, and to honour the French victims of the 1871 Franco-Prussian War…

At the beginning of his political career, the future French statesman Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929) was mayor of Montmartre.

Montmarte History Private Guided Tour : take the Tour

Your Private Guide takes you through the narrow streets of the hill, who slip through the historic buildings and climb up to the Sacré Coeur Basilica. Throughout your Private Guided Tour and its anecdotes, you can detour to the streets to admire splendid views of Paris and its plain…

Montmarte History Private Guided Tour : details

Your Montmarte History Private Guided Tour lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Montmarte History Private Guided Tour : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Montmarte History Private Guided Tour…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided Tour of Parisian “Passages Couverts” : History

Most of the Parisian “Passages Couverts” were built in the first half of the 19th century to protect customers from the rain and offer the most diverse set of businesses. Paris had up to 150 “Passages Couverts” in the 1850s and exported the model to several other cities in France and abroad in the late 19th century.

The work of Haussmann, who opened wide areas by drilling large avenues in Paris, and competition from department stores resulted in the disappearance of most of the passages…

Private Guided Tour of Parisian “Passages Couverts” : take the Tour

Built at the dawn of the 19th century, the Parisian “Passages Couverts”, ancestors of shopping malls, culminated during the Restoration. Forgotten for a long time, most of “Passages Couverts” are now restored : dive into a secret world of charm and refinement, enjoy the bright glass, the mosaic pavements, luxury shops and old decorations…

During your Private Guided Tour of Parisian “Passages Couverts”, your Private Guide takes you to explore the Palais Royal, the Vero-Dodat, the Vivienne and the Colbert galleries… but also the Panoramas, the Jouffroy and the Verdeau passages…

Private Guided Tour of Parisian “Passages Couverts” : details

Your Private Guided Tour of Parisian “Passages Couverts” lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of Parisian “Passages Couverts” : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of Parisian “Passages Couverts”…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided Tour of Paris Commune : History

The Paris Commune (La Commune de Paris) was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March to May, 1871.

This event is now world wide famous, presented as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution.

In a formal sense, the Paris Commune simply acted as the local authority, with a city council (in French, the “commune”). However, the conditions in which it formed, its controversial decrees, and its violent end transformed it into one of the more important political episodes of the time.

The rebellion was finally crushed and between 10,000 and 30,000 persons died…

Private Guided Tour of Paris Commune : take the Tour

Paris Commune was born in Montmartre. Through the visit of Montmartre, of the Sacre Coeur, but also of other symbolic places of Paris Commune, your Private Guide takes you to the discovery of Paris Commune…

Ideally, for a comprehensive overview, this Private Guided Tour can be combined with the Private Tour of the Paris Commune to the Saint-Denis Museum.

Private Guided Tour of Paris Commune : details

Your Private Guided Tour of Paris Commune lasts 2 hours.

Relax! Your Private Guided Tour is entirely custom-tailored : depending on your requests, we adapt to your wishes, we visit at your own pace, you skip the line and have priority access to Parisian monuments.

Save time & money: we complete your Private Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions in Paris, in order to provide a unique experience.

You are accompanied by an independent local professional guide / or specialist, selected based on his / her interest in History and Parisian habits.

Private Guided Tour of Paris Commune : book now

Each Private Guided Tour is custom-tailored and different : prices start at 259€ per group (up to 4 persons).

Please contact us for booking your Private Guided Tour of Paris Commune…

…or to offer it to a friend !

Private Guided Tour of Paris Commune : testimonials

M. Saint James (USA) :
« I had a great time with Mr. Laporte discovering the places and artifacts of the Commune. He was professional and charming and kept me engaged with history the whole time. I especially enjoyed sharing lunch and talking of cultural differences and the effects of historical perspective.
Thanks for making this experience so easy. »