Our curated but flexible program spans an 8-day period in Paris (most tour companies would bill it as a “10-day” tour) built around a carefully selected package of 4 included performances highlighting French performers and repertoire, plus two guided tours to museums you are unlikely to have visited before and to the Palace of Chantilly. In addition, for your free days, we will assist you in arranging daytime activities that appeal most to you. Our excellent (and very personable) historian/guide Bernie has agreed to host all our tours. Meanwhile, every “free” evening offers a rich variety of additional performances; we will be happy to book seats for the ones you want to attend; you even have the option of swapping your ticket(s) to any of the included performances for something that you find more appealing.
We have been able to reserve a limited number of rooms (at 220 square feet, large for Paris, whether for single or double occupancy) in a very nice Right Bank hotel that offers easy access to both opera houses, the Philharmonie, and most of the museums, sights, and shopping; we have intentionally left more free time than is typical, to allow everyone, whether old Paris hands or first-timers, the freedom to do what most interests them. Besides walking, the best way to get around Paris is by Metro. Our hotel is very close to several stations, and we will provide each participant with unlimited use of public transportation during our entire stay.
Take a look at the details below (highlighted text denotes included activities). If you’d like to join us, don’t delay; we can only accommodate a maximum of 15 for this tour; as always, we honor reservations based on the date we receive your deposit.
the sooner we place our orders, the better our chances of getting the seats you prefer.
PRICES and INCLUSIONS
Prices, per person
$4,550
sharing a double/twin
$6,000
single occupancy
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Prices are stated in
U.S. Dollars
calculated on an
exchange rate of $1.10
to the Euro.
The price will be reduced with 13 or more participants.
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Package prices include:
Eight nights at the
Four-star, Right Bank
Hotel National
des Arts et Metiers
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Four lunches or dinners
(drinks included)
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Airport transfers
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Pass for Unlimited Metro Use Throughout the Tour
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Tours with Expert Guides
as described to the right
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Four Included Performances
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Additional Guided Tours
and Performances
(at additional cost)
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THE ITINERARY, DAY-BY-DAY
Thursday, May 9: Depart for Paris. Air France offers non-stop service from Houston but virtually any major carrier can get you there, with a change of planes.
Friday, May 10: We will arrange transfers from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the Hotel National des Arts et Metiers. Most flights from the U.S. arrive in the morning, allowing you to visit a gallery or do a “get acquainted with Paris” tour in the afternoon. This evening, we will all convene at the hotel and go to whatever wonderful dining experience Zsofi has in store for us!
Saturday, May 11: Tonight, we attend Baroque master Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Médée at the Palais Garnier, Paris’s iconic 19th-century opera house. The production is by David McVicar and features one of Europe’s premiere authentic performance practice ensembles, Les Arts Florissants, conducted by William Christie. Premiered before Louis XIV in 1693, it is considered by maestro Christie to be the finest and most affecting example of the French tragédie lyrique. Your daytime hours are free. See below for a list of walking tour possibilities; we will assist you in arranging for any that appeal to at least four in our group. We will also provide you with a list of smaller galleries and museums that you could choose to visit.
Sunday, May 12: Today is totally free; as always, we are ready to help arrange guided tours for small groups (see below for some suggestions). There is a performance of Richard Strauss’s Salome at the Opéra Bastille (optional) this afternoon under the baton of Mark Wigglesworth, with Lise Davidsen in the title role, Ekaterina Gubanova as Herodias, Johan Reuter as Jochanaan, and Gerhard Siegel as Herodes.
Monday, May 13 and Tuesday, May 14: These days are free for you to pursue whatever most interests you. If you are interested in “Paris, the City,” you might want to join others of similar mind on one or more of the walking tours we can arrange for groups as small as four (see below). If prowling museums, whether large or small, is more to your taste, the old system of “closed on Mondays” has been replaced by one in which some are closed on Mondays, some on Tuesdays; check to see which of your “must see” destinations are open on which day. You have the option of taking the evenings off or attending one of several concerts each day (see the list of options below).
Wednesday, May 15: One museum that few of our clients are likely to have seen is the Fondation Louis Vuitton, probably better known for its architecture by Frank Gehry than for its collection of contemporary art; we’ll enjoy a guided tour. While we are in the Bois de Boulogne neighborhood, we’ll also visit the Marmottan Museum, displaying more than three hundred Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including one of the world’s largest collections of Monets. We’ll enjoy lunch together. This evening’s performance features Europe’s newest podium “wunderkind,” Klaus Mäkelä, conducting Mahler’s 4th Symphony and Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night at the Philharmonie.
Thursday, May 16: Today, we drive about an hour to reach Chantilly Château, the legacy of Henri d’Orléans (a.k.a. Duke of Aumale), son of the last King of France. Considered to be the greatest collector of his time, the erstwhile prince made Chantilly a showcase for his countless masterpieces and precious manuscripts. The Château remains as it was when the Duke of Aumale gave it as a gift it to the Institut de France in 1886, providing a perfect place to take a journey back in time to a princely residence, complete with its priceless contents. We enjoy another of Zsofi’s fabled lunches before returning to the hotel to relax before tonight’s included performance, Adolpe Adam’s Giselle, the quintessential “white ballet,” at the Palais Garnier.
Friday May 17: We’ve left your last full day in Paris free for you to squeeze in as many individual or optional activities as you have energy for! Early this evening, we’ll get together for our final meal together, prior to attending Jules Massenet’s operatic version of Don Quichotte at the Opéra Bastille, with Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role.
Saturday, May 18: We will provide airport transfers for your journey home . . . or on to further adventures.
THE PERFORMANCES
Included:
Marc-Antoine Charpentier – Médée
William Christie conducts Les Arts Florissants
Director: David McVicar, Designer: Bunny Christie
Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä conducts
Schoenberg: Transfigured Night
Mahler Symphony #4
Jules Massenet – Don Quichotte (opera)
Mikhail Tatarnikov conducts
Adolphe Adam– Giselle
Choreography by Jean Coralli after Jules Perrot
Sets and costumes by Alexandre Benois
Optional (additional cost):
- Richard Strauss – Salome
- Alexandre Theraud, piano recital
- Elina Bashkirova, piano recital
- Hèléne Grimaud, piano recital
- Les Arts Florissants, Christie conducting
- Les Accents Ensemble
- Ensemble Caelis
-
Paris Opera Orchestra Chamber Players
Included:
Full-day excursion to the Château Chantilly (lunch included)
Half-day at the Fondation Louis Vuitton and Musée Marmottan (lunch included)
Optional (prices will be determined by the number of participants):
- Île de la Cité: Origins of Paris through the Gothic Era
- Marais with Place des Vosges: Renaissance Paris
- Haussmannization: 19th-century Paris
- Art Nouveau to Corbusier: 20th-century Paris
- Père Lachaise: The world’s most famous cemetery
