PARIS INTERIORSAn invitation to join us for
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 Salon Louis XVI, Champ de Bataille |
For centuries France has been regarded as the beacon of style. The sumptuous decors of its châteaux and mansions still attract millions of visitors each year. Enjoy privileged invitations to amazing châteaux and mansions, many of which are privately owned. This unique tour provides a true visual feast, giving you the opportunity to experience the most interesting examples of the essence of “French style”. "Paris Interiors" is a unique collection of some of the most interesting, often spectacular, examples of French interior design for those who would like to immerse themselves in a week of luxury. As with all our tours, any of the components of the "Most Beautiful Week of Your Life" sample itinerary can be taken as individual private day tours. |
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Beautiful homes, beautiful décor, beautiful private gardens.
The complete tour covers an impressive range of interiors, with access to private homes. Our exclusive itinerary combines the best of Paris with a delightful selection of residences in the surrounding countryside and villages.
To start the tour, we have an introduction to French design by our expert art historian, who will then accompany us on an amazing day visiting interiors regarded as worthy of preserving as part of the national heritage within the collections of a number of museums.
As the week continues we visit a fascinating variety of private homes ranging from the tiny cottage of “Bolero” composer Maurice Ravel right through to the breathtaking château which is the private residence of the doyen of French Interior design, Jacques Garcia. (Click here to read Jacques Garcia's Bio). There are two versions of the tour - both offering an innovative shopping option. Our resident expert will accompany you on a specially designed three day tour of Paris, showing you the best places to shop for “Interiors”. Rather than second guess your personal interests, we show you the widest possible range of “Interiors” shopping options and provide you with an address book to fill as you go. We guarantee even regular visitors to Paris (shopaholics included!) will discover an amazing amount of new places to explore at their leisure.
French Travel Boutique only caters to small, select groups with the flexibility to offer individual attention. If you would like to organize your own group, we can offer you an exclusive itinerary. All our tours are tailor-made for our clients. The itineraries below are examples of a full tour, however we can organise any individual component for a private tour. Private tours are available in any combination and start from a half day (see the Paris VIP page).
THE FULL TOUR ITINERARY HIGHLIGHTS
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DAY 1 |
WELCOME TO PARIS |
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DAY 2 |
FRENCH DÉCOR HERITAGE |
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DAY 3 |
THE PRIVATE DOMAINS OF THE EMPRESS AND THE QUEEN |
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DAY 4 |
PARIS MANSIONS |
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DAY 5 |
PRIVATE HOMES FAMOUS ARCHITECTS Today we breathe the fresh air of Maisons-Laffitte as the guests at two colorful private homes. Mme Castiglioni welcomes us to her private residence containing the studio of her husband, the renown artist Luigi Castiglioni. The walls of this small home are literally filled with the original paintings of his celebrated posters and magazine covers and a stunningly diverse range of other works. The artist is also responsible for the original décor, as he also used the internal and external walls and shutters as a canvas for his painting. We also meet a Brazilian born IT executive and her French husband who took a somber little villa and turned it into a warm, welcoming home with a happy riot of colors and attention to detail and named it Villa Carioca. After lunch in a beautiful private park in a restaurant favored by the “in crowd”, we spend the afternoon checking out residences built by two of the most famous architects in France - 400 years apart - Mansart’s Château Maisons-Laffitte and Le Corbusier’s Villa de Savoye. |
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DAY 6 |
FAMOUS PEOPLE The contrast of these four private residences in Montfort-l’Amaury is astounding. Surrounding this picturesque village, we find the little cottage where Maurice Ravel composed “Bolero”, the surprisingly unpretentious family home where Jean Monnet, “father” of the EEC welcomed world leaders and the modern architecture of the home Alvar Aalto designed in 1959 for the gallery owner and collector Louis Carré. After a picnic lunch in the superb gardens of Château de Groussay, we are invited to visit the private residence with its fabulous décor, including a private theatre that will take your breath away and the library which so impressed Cecil Beaton that he used it as the model for Henry Higgins’ library in My Fair Lady. |
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DAY 7 |
THE JOURNÉE JACQUES GARCIA Click here for more information on Jacques Garcia Click here for more information on
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DAY 8 |
Check out of hotel after breakfast - unless you are extending your stay, which we highly recommend!! Especially because on Monday we start the shopping option. | |
| COST: | 3900 euros/person - Twin share (based on a group of 6 people) | |
Paris Interiors Shopping ModuleThis is a three day tour accompanied by our expert resident shopaholic. The tour is designed to cover as much territory as possible, so we give you an address book to fill with all the places you would be interested in exploring at your leisure, either at the end of the day or in the future. We show you “what’s where” and you can take it from there. We’ll also introduce you to our favorite lunch spots (lunch is included each day). |
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DAY 1 |
Most of the day we visit the “grands magasins”, including the Home Stores of Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. We also visit a variety of fabric and accessory stores. The eclectic BHV Department store (which held absolutely no interest in the past for us as tourists) became one of our favorite haunts when we were setting up our apartment in Paris. We’ll take you exploring there as well. |
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DAY 2 |
We cover the best Interiors shopping areas in the chic quartiers of the Left Bank - enough said! |
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DAY 3 |
Today it’s the right bank where you’ll find gorgeous little antique shops and quirky specialty shops, especially around the Marais. We’ll also visit the street which is home to all the best fabric houses (including Pierre Frey’s new flagship store). | |
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COST: |
1300 euros/person - Twin share (based on a group of 6 people) |
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THE 7 DAY COMBINATION
If you’d like to combine shopping and visits, there is a shorter option available.
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DAY 1 |
WELCOME TO PARIS |
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DAY 2 |
FRENCH DÉCOR HERITAGE |
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DAY 3 |
SHOPPING |
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DAY 4 |
PARIS MANSIONS |
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DAY 5 |
SHOPPING We cover the best Interiors shopping areas in chic quartiers on the Left Bank - enough said! |
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DAY 6 |
Click here for more information on Jacques Garcia.
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DAY 7 |
SHOPPING |
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DAY 8 |
Check out of hotel after breakfast. | |
| COST: |
3170 euros/person - Twin share* *Based on as group of 6 people |
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Tour Modules
The Full Tour
Part 1 - Visiting Interiors - starts in Paris with dinner on the Saturday evening (in a restaurant decorated by Jacques Garcia) and concludes on Friday evening. The hotel is included Friday evening, with check out after breakfast on the Saturday.
Part 2 - Interiors Shopping module - starts Monday morning and concludes Wednesday evening.
Those wishing to enjoy the complete experience have the weekend free between Part 1 and Part 2. We are happy to organize accommodation, tours, a weekend in or out of Paris or give your tips on places to visit. The modules are also available separately.
The Seven Day Option -
Combination of Visiting Interiors and Shopping
Tour Costs
THE FULL TOUR - 3900 euros/person (twin share)*
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*Based on a group of 6 people Includes:
* We can arrange the package to include dinners, if required. We have found however, that the days are so packed that people generally prefer to relax each night and a take away salad seemed to be the preferred option! |
OPTIONAL SHOPPING MODULE - 1300 euros/person* (twin share)
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*Based on a group of 6 people Includes:
* We can arrange accommodation in the same hotel for the weekend between Paris Interiors Visits and the Shopping Module. If you would like us to organize tours, meals etc we are happy to do so. You may wish to spend the weekend outside Paris, which we can also organize. |
7 DAY COMBINATION - 3170 euros/person (twin share)
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Includes:
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