Paris in Depth: a City Stay with Versailles, Giverny and Champagne

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Paris and Montmartre at dusk

   Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly to the hotel, then Montmartre on foot

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Paris
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly; a driver meets you in arrivals at any time of day and takes you to the hotel, about an hour from Charles de Gaulle. Rooms are usually ready from 3 pm, so leave your bags and walk, or rest. At about 4:30 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the lobby for a short briefing and a first Métro ride north to Montmartre. We climb the lanes rather than the busy front steps: past the Bateau-Lavoir, where Picasso had his studio, the windmills on the rue Lepic, the small Clos Montmartre vineyard and the pink house on the rue de l'Abreuvoir, then up to the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur, consecrated in 1919, for the view across the roofs as the light drops. Place du Tertre is busy with portrait painters at this hour. Dinner tonight is together, a welcome meal at a restaurant on the hill, and your guide walks the group back down to the Métro afterwards.

   Compris

   • Private arrival transfer from Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly Airport, or a Paris station
   • Guided walk in Montmartre: the Bateau-Lavoir, the rue Lepic, the Clos Montmartre vineyard and the Sacré-Coeur
   • Welcome dinner in Montmartre

   Option plus facile : Ride the Montmartre funicular up to the Sacré-Coeur instead of climbing the lanes, and meet the group at the top.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free until the 4:30 pm meeting

   Activité : About 3 km on foot with steep lanes and steps in Montmartre. Land by about 1 pm to settle in before the walk; landing later, you can join the group at dinner.

2. Jour 2 : The Louvre at opening and the covered passages

   The Louvre, the Tuileries and the Palais-Royal, then the Right Bank passages on foot

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Paris
   Détail du jour 2

   We walk into the Louvre when it opens at 9 am with a licensed Paris guide, a guide-conférencier, and head first for the rooms that fill fastest: the Winged Victory of Samothrace on the Daru staircase, the Mona Lisa in the Salle des États, then the great French paintings and the Venus de Milo, about two and a half hours in all, with time to wander on your own afterwards. We come out through the Tuileries garden and cross to the Palais-Royal, with its arcades and striped Buren columns, for a sit-down lunch nearby. In the afternoon your guide leads a walk through the covered passages of the 19th century, glass-roofed shopping arcades that were the first of their kind: Galerie Vivienne with its mosaic floor, the Passage des Panoramas, opened in 1799 and full of stamp dealers and small restaurants, and across the boulevard Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau with their toy shops and old booksellers. We finish on the Grands Boulevards by about 4 pm and the evening is yours.

   Compris

   • The Louvre at 9 am opening with a licensed guide-conférencier, entry included
   • The Tuileries garden and the Palais-Royal
   • Sit-down lunch near the Palais-Royal
   • Guided walk of the covered passages: Galerie Vivienne, Passage des Panoramas, Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau

   Option plus facile : Take a taxi from the Louvre back to the hotel after lunch and skip the passages walk.

   Option plus active : Stay on in the Louvre after the guided visit for the Egyptian rooms or Napoleon III's apartments, then join the passages walk at Galerie Vivienne.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 6 km on foot, flat, with two and a half hours standing in the Louvre. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, so this day is always a Wednesday.

3. Jour 3 : Monet's Giverny, then the Musée d'Orsay

   Paris to Giverny and back, then the Musée d'Orsay (November to March: Chartres)

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Paris
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave the hotel at 8:15 am in our own van for Giverny, about an hour and a quarter west along the Seine valley, to be at the gate of Monet's house and gardens when they open at 9:30 am. Monet lived here from 1883 until his death in 1926 and planted both gardens himself. We walk the Clos Normand flower garden first, then go through the tunnel under the road to the water garden, with its green Japanese bridge, weeping willows and lily pond, before the coaches arrive. Inside the pink house are his yellow dining room and his collection of Japanese prints. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the village. We are back in Paris by about 3 pm and walk into the Musée d'Orsay on a timed entry at about 3:30 pm, the old railway station on the Left Bank, where your guide shows the group Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh and Cézanne. Thursday is the late opening, until 9:45 pm, so you can stay on. From November to March, when Giverny is closed, we go to Chartres Cathedral and its 12th and 13th-century glass instead.

   Compris

   • Monet's house and gardens at Giverny at 9:30 am opening, entry included (April to October)
   • Or Chartres Cathedral with your guide (November to March)
   • Sit-down lunch in Giverny or Chartres
   • The Musée d'Orsay with your guide, entry included

   Option plus facile : Go back to the hotel from the van and skip the Orsay; your ticket is valid to come back on your own.

   Option plus active : Walk from the Orsay along the Seine quays and over the Pont Royal to the Tuileries at dusk.

   Temps libre : Evening free; the Orsay stays open until 9:45 pm on Thursdays

   Activité : About 5 km on foot, gravel paths and some steps at Giverny. This day is always a Thursday for the Orsay's late opening.

   

4. Jour 4 : Versailles on a weekday, at opening

   Paris to the Palace of Versailles, the gardens and the Trianon estate, and back

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Paris
   Détail du jour 4

   Versailles is the second early start in a row, at 8 am, and it is worth it. Our van takes us the 20 km out to the palace to be in line for the 9 am opening on a Friday, a weekday that avoids Tuesday, when the Louvre is shut and Versailles is at its busiest. Your guide takes the group through the State Apartments of the King and Queen and the Hall of Mirrors, 73 metres of glass and gilding where the treaty ending the First World War was signed in 1919, before the rooms are full. Then we go out into André Le Nôtre's gardens, down the terraces to the Latona fountain and the Grand Canal, and stop for a sit-down lunch on the estate. In the afternoon we walk or ride the little train to the Trianon estate, which opens at noon: the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon and Marie Antoinette's Hamlet, a mock farm village beside a lake. The van brings us back to Paris by about 5 pm for a free evening.

   Compris

   • The Palace of Versailles at 9 am opening with your guide, entry included: the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors
   • The gardens, the Latona fountain and the Grand Canal
   • Sit-down lunch on the Versailles estate
   • The Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet, entry included

   Activités en option

   • The Musical Fountains or Musical Gardens show supplement, on the days the gardens run it (price shown at booking)
   • Hire a rowing boat on the Grand Canal (pay on the spot)

   Option plus facile : Ride the little train between the palace and the Trianon estate rather than walking the gardens.

   Option plus active : Hire bikes at the Grand Canal and ride to the Trianon and the Hamlet, about 6 km of flat paths.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 7 km on foot on gravel paths, and two hours standing in the palace. Versailles is closed on Mondays and busiest on Tuesdays, so this day is always a Friday.

   

5. Jour 5 : Champagne by TGV: Reims

   Paris Gare de l'Est by TGV to Reims, the cathedral and a champagne house, and back

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Paris
   Détail du jour 5

   A short van ride takes us to Gare de l'Est for a mid-morning TGV to Reims, about 45 minutes across the plain of Champagne; the train is faster than the road and nobody has to drive after a tasting. In Reims your guide walks the group to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, where most French kings were crowned, listed by UNESCO with the Palace of Tau and the Basilica of Saint-Remi. Look for the Smiling Angel on the west front and the blue windows Marc Chagall designed for the apse. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the town centre. In the afternoon we visit a champagne house, one of those whose cellars run through the chalk under the city, some in Gallo-Roman quarries; the Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars were listed by UNESCO in 2015. A cellar master's team explains how the bottles are turned and aged, and the visit ends with a tasting. We take an early-evening TGV back and are at the hotel by about 7 pm.

   Compris

   • Return TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est to Reims
   • Guided visit of Reims Cathedral
   • Sit-down lunch in Reims
   • Cellar visit and tasting at a champagne house in Reims

   Option plus facile : Rest in a café on the cathedral square while the group walks to the champagne house, and take a taxi to meet them for the tasting.

   Option plus active : Climb the cathedral towers on a timed visit, when open (pay on the spot), during the lunch break.

   Temps libre : Evening free back in Paris

   Activité : About 5 km on foot, flat, plus cellar stairs and cool cellars at about 10 C: bring a layer. Non-drinkers are welcome; the house serves a soft drink.

6. Jour 6 : The Marais on foot, a free afternoon and the Seine

   A Marais food walk, the afternoon free, then the Trocadéro to the Pont de l'Alma and the Seine by boat

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Paris
   Détail du jour 6

   Sunday is the Marais's liveliest day, because its shops stay open. At 10:30 am your guide leads a food walk that becomes lunch: the Marché des Enfants Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris, for cheese and charcuterie; falafel in the rue des Rosiers, the old Jewish quarter; bread and pastry from a neighbourhood bakery; and a glass of wine or a coffee to finish under the arcades of the Place des Vosges, one of the oldest planned squares in Paris. The afternoon is free. Your guide hands out a short list: Sainte-Chapelle and its windows, the Musée de l'Orangerie for Monet's water lilies, the Rodin garden, the Picasso museum round the corner, or a slow walk along the Seine. At 6:30 pm we meet at the Trocadéro for the view of the Eiffel Tower, walk past the Palais Galliera to the river at the Pont de l'Alma and take a one-hour sightseeing boat past the Louvre, the Orsay and Notre-Dame. The farewell dinner follows near the river.

   Compris

   • Marais food walk with tastings, as lunch: the Marché des Enfants Rouges, the rue des Rosiers and the Place des Vosges
   • Evening walk from the Trocadéro past the Palais Galliera to the Pont de l'Alma
   • One-hour sightseeing boat on the Seine
   • Farewell dinner

   Activités en option

   • A pastry or macaron class on the free afternoon (price shown at booking)
   • The Eiffel Tower summit or the Arc de Triomphe roof, on a timed ticket (price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Rest at the hotel in the afternoon and take a taxi to the Pont de l'Alma for the boat.

   Option plus active : Walk the Coulée Verte, the old railway viaduct turned garden path, from the Bastille east for about 4.5 km on the free afternoon.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free, with your guide's list of suggestions

   Activité : About 6 km on foot, flat. The boat runs in the evening year-round; it is daylight in midsummer and dark by 6 pm in winter.

   

7. Jour 7 : Depart Paris

   The hotel to Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly, or a Paris station

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 7

   Breakfast is at the hotel, and the morning is yours until checkout, usually at noon: a last walk to the bakery, the souvenirs you did not buy (many shops open late on Monday mornings), or a coffee in the square. A private driver collects you at the time your flight or train needs and takes you to Charles de Gaulle, about an hour away, Orly, about 45 minutes, or Gare du Nord or Gare de Lyon if you are travelling on by train to London, Brussels or the south. If you are continuing to Normandy or across France, this trip joins naturally onto our Paris and Normandy trip or our Paris, Burgundy, Provence and Riviera trip, and we can add hotel nights before or after at the same hotel. Your guide says goodbye at breakfast and confirms each transfer time the evening before, so nobody has to sit in the lobby for hours waiting for a shared shuttle. Leave about three hours at the airport for an international flight home.

   Compris

   • Private departure transfer to Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly Airport, or a Paris station

   Temps libre : Morning free until checkout

   Activité : Any flight time works; for a relaxed morning, book a flight from Charles de Gaulle after about 1 pm.

Faune et météo : April to June and September to October are the gentlest months: mild days, the Giverny gardens in flower (tulips and wisteria in spring, dahlias and water lilies from summer into autumn) and long evenings. July and August can pass 30 C and the queues are longest, which is why every big sight is booked at opening. November to March is cold and often grey, with short days, smaller crowds and Chartres in place of Giverny.

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