I personally could never set foot in the catacombs of Paris without one of My Private Paris guide holding my hand through it. Our guides have been down there countless times and have all (I think) come back to tell the tale of the famous underground ossuary. Here is a bit of history about the...Read More
Les Journées du Patrimoine, or European Heritage Days, are events happening in all across Europe which aim to promote visits of monuments or buildings normally closed to the public. This event finds its roots in France with La Journée Portes Ouvertes (Open Doors Day) which was held in 1984. Every year, nearly 12 million visitors...Read More
When thinking of a place and a story to tell about the Marais, I thought of Victor Hugo’s house and museum at first, not too far from the famous Place des Vosges. But then I decided for a lesser-known endroit and chose to tell story of the Beguines’ Convent in Marais. This religious community used...Read More
Paris, the City of Light… and water? The use of water in French gardens has been an important design element since the Renaissance, following the Italian style. French gardens and public space designers have since incorporated fountains into the landscape to serve as monuments while also allowing for impressive displays of jetting water and the...Read More
In the 1850s, Napoléon III gave the Baron Haussmann the great task of creating new roads and buildings for the city of Paris. The Baron met some controversy for his designs at the time, but nowadays we can’t imagine Paris without its famous façades. And it only took seventeen years to build! Here is a...Read More
The whole world mourns the tragic events that took place yesterday in central Paris, as a massive, accidental fire engulfed Notre Dame cathedral last night, taking down the iconic cathedral’s spire among many other damages. Today, we wanted to pay homage to this symbol of Paris, France and Gothic architecture, reminiscing about a few of...Read More
It’s safe to say that the Eiffel Tower is the most famous monument in Paris. The Tower, nowadays symbol of France, was built to be the majestic entrance to the World’s Fair in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel. It took two years to build and was meant to commemorate the French Revolution. Back then the Eiffel...Read More
