guide for Louvre Museum

Paris Walks has art historians who will do private Louvre tours.

Ninety-minute English-language guided tours leave twice daily (except the first Sun of the month Oct-March) from the Accueil des Groupes area, under the pyramid (normally at 11:00 and 14:00, possibly more often in summer; €12 plus your entry ticket, tour tel. 01 40 20 52 63). Videoguides (€5) provide commentary on about 700 masterpieces. Or - as mentioned before - you can download a free Rick Steves audio tour version of the walking tour chapter in our Paris book.

You could also try contacting one of our local guides who are more for city tours but might also focus on the Louvre. Thierry Gauduchon is a terrific guide and a gifted teacher (€230/half-day, €450/day, tel. 06 19 07 30 77, [email protected]). Sylvie Moreau also leads good tours in Paris (€200 for 3 hours, €320 for 7 hours, tel. 01 46 07 96 28, mobile 06 87 02 80 67, [email protected]). Arnaud Servignat is a fine guide who has taught Rick much about Paris (private tours starting at €190, also does car tours of the countryside around Paris for a little more, mobile 06 68 80 29 05, www.french-guide.com, [email protected]). Elisabeth Van Hest is another likable and very capable guide (€200/half-day, tel. 01 43 41 47 31, mobile 06 77 80 19 89, [email protected]). Sylviane Ceneray is gentle and knowledgeable (€200/half-day, tel. 06 84 48 02 44, www.paris-asyoulikeit.com).