Unusual walking tours of Paris

Paris Greeters offers free tours of different areas of Paris and they accept donations for their organization.We did Bastiele in May and our guide spoke perfect English and was very informative on our tour.
Mike

Thank you. I will check out Paris Greeters.

Look at Paris Walks and don't confuse it with similarly named free tours. They are generally good and not expensive. The chocolate tour with Iris (if she still does them) is excellent. Last time I was there (3 yrs ago) I took the Taste of Paris tour that was also very good. You get a lot of tasting on both, so it's worth the price.

there are lots of books with self guided walking tours. We particularly enjoyed one by Frommers that had an architecture tour of the 16th with a focus on the Guimards and Corbussiers. I also did a graffiti walking tour in the 19th and 20th from a tour I found on line. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/graffitti-street-art-vandalism/
This particular one has expired but you might google for similar. Simms book 'An Hour from Paris' provides easy day trips with directions for charming small towns easily reached by train in the region using your Navigo Decouverte.

If you have an interest in Art Nouveau architecture, I've done this walk to see the work of Jules Lavirotte altho the location is not really off the beaten path since it's in the 7th near the Eiffel Tower.

https://www.parisperfect.com/blog/2011/03/art-nouveau-7th-arrondissement/

I'll give a 2nd nod to Paris Walks. I did 4 of them on my last visit in September. I think one of my favorites is Paris and the Occupation (have done it twice) but I also really enjoyed Jefferson and Franklin in Paris which I did in April and Hemingway's Paris which I did in September. I also had a walking tour of the Marais on a Rick Steves tour that was done by a Paris Walks guide. These tours are not really 1/2 a day though, more like 2-2.5 hours. The thing is, I always see interesting things on the walks that I want to go back to!

www.paris-walks.com

You might check out the author and tour guide David Downie. His book Paris-Paris is a good read and a great primer for a visit.

http://www.davidddownie.com/David_D._Downie/tours/

Anything David Downie writes is a good read. Even my husband, born and raised in Paris, appreciates David Downie very much. We learn so much from his books. And another shout out for Paris Walks. Although I’ve spent a lotof my life in the city, I always learn new things from their tours.

Another suggestion for Paris Greeters! We thoroughly enjoyed our personal tour of the 6th Arondissement area. We actually declined our first Greeter offer, because they offered an area we were not interested in. A little worried we wouldn't get another "offer", but we did and what a gem. This gentlemen knew it would be raining during our day and had (the day before) scoped his planned walking area for covered spots to stop in. He also had acquaintances in the Sorbonne and we got to peek into ancient offices we'd have no way to access on our own. Go for it! (We donated $100 afterward, and still felt we could have given more for the value! Our guide even looked up the original Indian inhabitants of our Florida hometown...imagine! he knew more than we did!)

--->Sorry to ask a sort of an off-topic question but I took a quick look at the David Downie book. Is this a better book to get in paperback or will it be OK on a Kindle platform. If it's got lots of nice pictures or maps, I'd go with the paper back. I can't tell much from the sample you can view online. Bets? Dave? Anyone with an opinion?

---> Back to Amy's question!

Graffiti? Street art? Vandalism? Plenty to discuss on a walking tour of Belleville that explores the vast expanses of this once-low-down area. The Belleville hills are worth walking around for long cultural connections, plus a glimpse of a Chinatown I did not know existed in this part of Paris.. http://streetartparis.fr/street-art-tours-paris/

I don’t remember many maps or photos but well-researched, essaies, by a knowkedgeble person written in rich prose. I got my books from the library, and don’t remember about illustrations.

Edit: that Dave has a copy, which indeed has photos, you should buy the book. I’m going to get it out of the library and reread Dave’s favorite essay. I particularly like the one on the bouquinistes.

Pam, I found my copy. Personally, I like the book with the photos. They are black and white, 30 in all, smallish-3" x 5" or so, and a bit random. They are by Downie's photographer wife, Alison Harris. A great shot of Place des Vosges in snow, fishermen on the Seine, a Cupid statue with the trees at Pere-Lachaise. Three categories of essay-Paris Places, Paris People, Paris Phenomena. The photos fit with the writing somehow. I love the essay titled Midnight, Montmartre, and Modigliani.

I love my Nook and my husband loves his Kindle for travel. I can download books from my library at home and since we take long trips, having English language books for free sure beats buying them for 15 or 20 Euro on the road and then having to either carry them home or abandon them. BUT guidebooks are terrible on readers; you really want to be able to see the maps and pictures which unlike text cannot be enlarged on readers (at least not on mine) and you want to be able to flip around in the book. So we always carry any guidebooks we plan to use.

Bets and Dave...thank you so much for the extra information! Decided to add it to my Christmas list as the nephews are always looking for not-too-expensive gift ideas. If it doesn't wind up under the tree.....it'll go on my Amazon order that afternoon, hahaha!!

We had a fun tour with Paris by Mouth in 2016. Small group, great guide.

Another plug for Paris Greeters. I requested a tour focusing on architecture and history, and my guide (an American expat) absolutely delivered with a terrific tour in the 8th arrondissement that was full of terrific sites and facts, just perfect for a nerd like me :). Thus, it seems like they're quite good with matching one's interests with the guide. The Belleville tour sounds great - I'll definitely refer back to this post.