VIP Paris Tour: A Privately Guided Experience

Eric planned the perfect holiday in France. Our driver was waiting for us on arrival. Off to Normandy for our first three nights, with a quick stop at Monet's garden at Giverny. Our guide brought the water lilies to life. We checked in at an amazing five-star hotel. Do not miss either of their two Michelin-star restaurants. It's a short walk into Port-en-Bessin-Huppain, where you will find many restaurants. We spent two days exploring everything Normandy and World War 2 with an exceptional guide.

Paris did not disappoint. We hit the ground running. Eric arranged a tour of Paris by car. The evening dinner cruise on the River Seine was definitely a highlight of the trip, as were beautiful views of the city lit up at night, including the Eiffel Tower. I had no idea how beautiful the Palace and Gardens of Versailles are - the restaurant on-site by the lake with rowboats is wonderful. Of course, the guide matters - she was the best! If you're a foodie, make sure you schedule a cooking class with our chef. Shopping at the local markets is an adventure in itself. I've been able to recreate the meal back in the States.

We chose to explore the Champagne houses on this trip. Both were exceptional and yes, we brought home four bottles. In between houses, we had the most wonderful lunch with a champagne flight at Au 36 in Hautvillers. A trip to Paris would not be complete without visiting the Louvre and Orangerie museums. We completed our holiday with a flute of champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower! 

Eric and the guides made perfect restaurant recommendations. I most definitely recommend him and the travel agency!

Working with Zicasso was great!  Our contact person was responsive to our questions and got us a sample itinerary quickly.  She was very helpful in adjusting the itinerary to meet our family’s needs.  She was also helpful in guiding through what would be reasonable expectations in terms of days in each city, day trips that might work with our locations and re-arranging the order of the cities to help with flight costs.

Once we started our trip we had another contact.  She was amazing!  She was quick to respond whenever we had questions.  On the day we arrived in Paris, we were supposed to meet a tour group on a street corner for a tour of the Eiffel Tower.  Unfortunately, the meeting place was changed and we were not informed.  The street corner was quite a distance from the Eiffel tower so we couldn’t just ask at the information desk as we were no where near it so we just waited.  Eventually, when we were 15 minutes past the meeting time, I emailed and called our contact.  She got back to me pretty quickly and figured out that the meeting place had changed.  By that time, our tour group had left.  We were pretty frustrated, but our contact made some quick phone calls and got us added onto another group at a later time.  We were really grateful as we didn’t really have any significant down time in our schedule to come back to see the Eiffel Tower another day.  She even offered to reimburse us for a dinner for our trouble.  Amazing customer service.  In regards to the mix up to begin with, I don’t know if you have any say in meeting places, but our original meeting place on the street corner was a bit odd as it was a good 15-20 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and it doesn’t really seem to make sense why it was so far away when there were obviously many groups meeting right at the base of the tower.

London - This may have been our favorite part of the trip (but it was all amazing so it’s hard to pick!).  We were thrilled with the location of our hotel - in the theater district.  It is a lovely part of town and we walked around a lot.  We were also right next to a tube station which was handy.  The hotel itself, including the staff was fantastic.  The meeting places for various tours was clear and it was pretty easy to get around (really glad we didn’t rent a car as the driving looks terrifying!).

Paris - The hotel was very pretty, but incredibly ornate and the rooms were small, a little less kid friendly than the other hotels.  Honestly, the small room size was actually what we were expecting in all the cities, so it wasn’t a big deal.  Our day trip to Versailles and Giverny was excellent.  Our guide was very good.  The walking tour of Île de la Cité was also very good - it would be good to mention the amount of walking for certain tours.  That day we had the walking tour in the morning, about 90 minutes break, then the Louvre tour in the afternoon.  We decided to walk from the hotel to  Île de la Cité which was probably a 45 minute walk.  We ended up walking for probably 8-10 hours, including walking the 400 some steps to the top of Notre Dame, that day and were exhausted (it also happened to be 90+ degrees out).  If we had known how much walking we’d be doing that day, we would probably have taken a taxi.  The Louvre scavenger hunt tour was probably our least favorite event of the trip.  The guide was very nice, but the scavenger hunt was not that great.  Our kids are 11, 15 and 18 and I think are a little too old to have been very engaged by it.  It also seemed like we were just rushed from one part of the museum to another looking for the next “clue”.  There were some things we weren’t interested in and others that we would have rather spent more time.  There was a lot of walking there and after spending the morning walking in the heat, I think we were pretty tired.  The Louvre is so big that I don’t know of a better way to see it, but those were our thoughts.

Barcelona - The hotel was very nice - it’s too bad they limit the air conditioning because it was very hot there too.  We did expect the heat, but were a little surprised at how few places had air conditioning (or kept it at a pretty warm setting).  The hotel staff was nice, but some of them didn’t seem very knowledgeable regarding locations of restaurants or meeting places.  The one thing we would have liked to have known ahead of time is regarding Park Guell.  We had an open afternoon and there suggestions on our itinerary to go to the beach or to Park Guell.  When we asked about the beach, we were told that the only one that was recommended was about an hour away by bus - we were told the others had a lot of vendors and that at those beaches, we could expect to be approached to buy things every 30 seconds.  When we asked about Park Guell, we were told that tickets need to be purchased a day in advance (on the itinerary, it seemed like we could just show up, get a ticket and walk around).  Luckily, we were able to work it into our schedule because it was worth it!

Rome - The hotel rooms were small, but nice.  The staff was pretty nice, but not especially helpful with our transportation questions.  On the day we were to see the Colosseum, we planned to take a taxi as it was pretty far to walk.  We asked the front desk staff the night before about getting a taxi (because there were 5 of us) and were told we just needed to come to the lobby when we were ready and they would call one.  That day, we found out that if we wanted a taxi for 5, it should have been scheduled in advance.  We were basically told to walk to the taxi station on the corner and hope that one with enough seats came by.  After a bit of a wait, we did get one, but it was pretty stressful since by then it was much too late to walk and get there on time.  In general, transportation was the biggest issue in Rome since none of it other than shuttles to and from the airport was arranged.  We loved the city itself.

We had a fantastic time.  It was very easy to correspond with this travel agency.  My daughter had been to Paris before and kept changing her mind where she wanted us to go.  There were three of us and the tour guide in Paris and it was very nice.  The guide rearranged our tour so we would not miss Versailles. (a planned strike day).  She also allowed time for shopping.  Last minute changes on our part were met with aplomb.  We did a lot in 5 days including Giverny.  That is a must see. two of us went on to the D-D beaches.  The hotel in Paris was very nice and the staff accommodating.  The Bed and Breakfast in Bayeaux was beautiful and very welcoming.  Bayeaux was a wonderful walk-able  town with its own beautiful cathedral.  We  are ready to  go back with this company again.

I had planned this trip for over a year with this wonderful France travel agency and will be eternally grateful, not only for the perfect itinerary, but for the flawless execution of every aspect.   It was beyond special.  Our travel agency teamed us up with the most wonderful drivers and guides, who became friends by the end of our stay!  Our driver in Paris, was there for us at every turn; to whisk us to our boat at Bateaux Parisens, to deliver us to and pick us up from the late show at the Moulin Rouge, and he was also there to help us with all of our luggage at the train station in Paris as we arrived from Caen.  His unfailing good humor and fearless navigation skills, along with his innately kind nature, made us feel instantly comfortable.

We had a spectacular guide in Paris.  She guided us through Versailles, the Musee d'Orsay, the Orangerie, the Marmottan-Claude Monet and the Rodin, just to name a few of the museums we visited.  We were accorded instant access and did not have to wait in any of the long queues, courtesy of our travel agency and guide!  She was a treasure trove of information and very intuitive with regard to where our interests lay.  In American terminology, "we had a blast" with our guide!  She had a disarming way with museum staff and in one instance, at the Rodin, was able to charm our way towards an extra 5 minute look at the upstairs of the interior as the museum was closing, so that we would not miss the sculptures of the fabulous Camille Claudel.  I simply cannot express how much her knowledge, affability and charm added to our experience!

Diane, an American expatriate who has lived in France for over 30 years, was our driver/guide in Giverny and Normandy.  Instantly comfortable with Diane, we so enjoyed our journey to Monet's home and gardens at Giverny.  Blessed by spectacular weather, we were able to fully appreciate the beautiful gardens in full bloom and under blue, sunlit skies.  Diane drove us to Honfleur, where we sat harbor side enjoying tea and conversation while taking in the sights of this beautiful seaside fishing village. We spent the next few days exploring the beaches of Normandy, the Norman Tapestry at Bayeux and two lovely chateaux in the area, while enjoying our stay in the very beautiful Chateau de Chenevieres.

Every detail of our trip was so perfect!  When I began planning for this grand adventure, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to see and do.  Our France travel agency was able to take my ideas and thoughts and shape them over time into a detailed, concrete plan incorporating museums, historical sites, nights of entertainment and plenty of free time for exploration.  I feel so lucky to have found this company to make my dream a reality!