Paris, City of Light

Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll also have a private coach and driver while touring .

This city was made for walking. Stroll grand boulevards with sweeping views of the city, pristine parks with trees planted in perfect rows, and narrow streets crowded with vendors selling flowers, pastries and cheese. Then head to the Île de la Cité, a small island in the Seine, to see Notre Dame Cathedral. Please note Notre Dame Cathedral is currently closed due to fire damage.

View the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Work began in 1163 on a spot that had been a holy shrine since Roman times. Over the centuries, the cathedral has been the scene of some of France's most momentous occasions, including the coronation of Napoleon.

What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence and the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded) and the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater).

The ultimate palace, Versailles was built by Louis XIII, and housed the royal family and its court from 1682 to the French Revolution. Everything in Versailles is worth a look, from the 250-foot-long Hall of Mirrors to Marie Antoinette's faux country hamlet. When being a queen became too much to bear, she would pretend to be a commoner, tending her sheep and wearing peasant clothes. (Please note Versailles is closed on Mondays.)

Visit the Musée D'Orsay, which is housed in a former railway station. It features mainly French art from 1848-1915, and is best known for its impressionist masterpieces by Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Cezanne.

Since 1926 Fragonard has been creating perfumes by combining traditional craft methods with the most modern production techniques. In the heart of Paris, just a few steps from the Opéra, you can explore one of two fascinating museums: a 19th-century town house and a theater dating from the turn of the 20th century. A miniature factory composed of 19th-century copper distilling apparatus demonstrates methods for extracting raw materials. In both museums' boutiques, you can find some original and exclusive gift ideas (Perfumes, eaux de toilette, creams, soaps and natural products). www.fragonard.com

See the city from the water on an hour-long cruise along the River Seine. The Seine cuts right through Paris, dividing the city in half. See the Eiffel tower rising up on the Left Bank, the walls of the Louvre on the Right Bank. A guide will point out other monuments and architectural marvels as you pass, many of which are illuminated by clear white light at night.

Immigration from North Africa (particularly from Tunisia and Morocco), has given the French capital a colorful mix of cuisines. Couscous is one of the most popular dishes today in Paris. Join the locals at a traditional North African restaurant and enjoy an authentic couscous: semolina traditionally served with a fragrant meat and vegetable stew.

Note that due to ongoing renovations, scaffolding will partially cover the château façade until Spring 2023.

The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a Medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world--one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)

Take interactive learning to another level with a Tour Director-led treasure hunt of the Ile de la Cité, home of Notre-Dame Cathedral! Enjoy an after-dinner adventure, complete exciting activities and solve fun clues. Each clue and every activity is built to maximize on-tour experiential learning.

Line up to climb to the top floor of this iconic landmark for a spectacular birds-eye view of the glittering City of Light.

Tonight for dinner, enjoy a speciality from the Brittany region of France: crepes. Creperie restaurants are very popular in Paris and you will be able to choose from the variety of toppings (ham, cheese, egg, peppers, spinach, cream--or a combination!) to create your favorite savory crepe (called "galette") before you enjoy a local favourite: a sweet crepe served with chocolate, fruit or jam.

This Montmartre landmark, a 19th-century basilica built by the French government following the Franco-Prussian War, features a large medieval dome that provides excellent views of the city.