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Guide in Paris

Posted by (Slidell, LA) on

I have a friend who is going to France in June for a WWII Band of Brothers 11-day tour of Normandy, Belgium and Germany. He is taking his 19-year-old grandson, and they are going into Paris three days early to see the city. He has never traveled internationally, does not speak (or want to learn to speak) French and assumes he can get by with Google Translate.

While I have provided him with my experiences from three visits there and all the Rick Steves tools available, when he told me after reading and watching these things that all he wants to see is the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs and the Louvre, it concerned me that he will miss so much of the city. I realize most in the hospitality business speak English, but I believe he would be better served if he could hire a guide for the two days he will have available before meeting the tour.

Has anyone out there used a guide that you could recommend we contact to see if they have time available for his dates, June 12 and 13. I don't believe the cost will be a problem for him. They would need to pick them up and drop them off at the hotel and during the day show them the things they want to see, and so much more they don't even know about in such a short time. Since I'm the one who talked him into going early to see Paris, any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Jim

Posted by
2851 posts

I’ve used Cory Frye.

I am not sure he does this kind of custom tour, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he does. He has some standard walks you can do that are excellent and if there’s some special interest, he may definitely have something that he could do. I took a tour with him a couple years ago that was focused on the resistance in Paris and it was excellent. It might really be interesting since they’re doing the band of Brothers tour Paris Walks does one too, but I have to admit my guy made the World War II resistance sound incredibly boring

One other thing I would suggest for them if they are going to the catacombs right across the street from , the catacombs is the resistance museum that talks about the liberation of Paris. I think it’s excellent and well worth going to and it sounds like something they might really be interested in.

https://afrenchfryeinparis.com/

Posted by
280 posts

Jim, you know what your friend thinks he wants to see. What about the grandson? Get him involved. Have the grandson download the Citymapper app on his phone. He can learn to navigate the metro and busses

With only 2 full days, the sights you mentioned, plus some strolling from here to there with a cafe stop or 2 could take up most of those 2 days.

Unless he has a specific agenda at the Louvre, suggest he book a guided tour.

Have your friend and his grandson take a look at Paris Walks for a walking tour that would interest them.

And don't forget, even if the 2 travelers have no interest in learning French, the basic courtesy of saying Bonjour and Merci will go a long way.

Posted by
1291 posts

If he's going next month, how would he learn to speak French even if he wanted to? The good news is many of us travelers don't speak French, though we've found everyone we need to converse with while in Paris does speak English. Bonjour goes a long way. He's expressed his interest in what he'd like to see. He doesn't have a lot of time. Has he agreed to having a guide? And he will have his 19 year old grandson with him; young people are resourceful and social media savvy; so it's not like they won't be able to figure things out together.

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