Your private Prime Paris tour begins in the heart of Île de la Cité. This island is home to the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral which you will view from the outside. This Gothic masterpiece was built over 900 years ago and recently refurbished after a devastating fire in 2019 . It was made famous by Victor Hugo and the legend of Quasimodo. But it is also where the French kings were crowned, and remains a symbol of Paris’ strength and endurance after the blazing fire that destroyed the roof in 2019.
A Celtic tribe called the ‘Parisii’ settled on the island during the Iron Age. After the fall of Rome, it was Clovis, King of the Franks who triumphed. The French kings governed from this island, and became the dominant power in Europe with Charlemagne – the first Holy Roman Emperor.
You’ll hear many stories and scandals of successive French monarchs outside the Conciergerie – the medieval royal palace that became a Revolutionary prison and is where the king and queen were held captive. You’ll see the Courts of Justice where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were tried and found guilty of treason.
The island holds many secrets to France’s past!
After a break, it’s time for a guided tour of the Louvre. The Louvre was also built to be a royal palace, and now houses one of the most extensive collections of art in the world. With your expert guide, you’ll enjoy priority access, skipping long lines, to enter this majestic building. You’ll see iconic masterpieces like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, as well as the spectacular collections of the French romantics like Delacroix and Gericault, the Coronation of Napoleon, the royal jewelry collection, famous works of the Italian Renaissance, and the many wonders from Ancient Greece and Egypt.
Your exclusive private tour ends inside or outside the Museum, just ask your guide.