Come with Me to Paris.

Wild Blue Yonder and Best Friend in Paris invite you to join us for

Seven Memorable Days in Paris

Get to know Paris in an entirely new way, and make some new friends along the way.

Over the last several years, I’ve experienced Paris through the eyes of a Paris resident, my friend Donna Morris of Best Friend in Paris. Now Donna and I are teaming up to offer you a trip of a lifetime in Paris. It’s not an ordinary tour, but a new way to travel – as though you were visiting with your best friend who lived in the city. For a full week, you’ll get to know the arrondissements of Paris, the hidden museums, where the locals eat, the spectacular parks, the local wine cellars where Parisians taste wines, and many enticing locations that tourists rarely see or know about.

On this trip, every evening before dinner, you’ll meet with Donna and me over a glass of wine. We’ll share that day’s discoveries (did you have a spectacular lunch, find a new park, stumble on a great handbag store, learn some history?). Bring down your shopping bags; we’ll all want to see what you bought and hear where you bought it. And then we’ll talk about the next day. Because – unlike a “tour” – on this trip, you always have choices about what to do and when to do it.

Preliminary Itinerary

Every day, you can set off with either Donna or me to a different section of Paris.

We’ll go with you there through the morning, and then you’ll be on your own for the afternoon to explore more in the area (with the very detailed written directions we’ll supply). Of course, you can choose to do any of the set itineraries another day, unescorted, or we can help you plan something completely different. Like all things in Paris, this itinerary is subject to change due to weather, strikes, changes in opening days and times, or other unforeseen events.

Saturday, July 21 Depart from your home city for overnight travel to Paris (your own planning).

Sunday, July 22 Arrive in Paris. We’ll meet you at the Hotel Relais Monceau.

Since people will be arriving at different times, the afternoon is free. Some things we might suggest, depending on when you arrive: a walk on the Champs Elysées to see the bikers finish the Tour de France, lunch at the Jacquemart André museum near the hotel, taking Metro to the Montparnasse outdoor art market, or simply walking in the beautiful Parc Monceau.

6pm: Group meets for wine in the hotel salon.

Monday, July 23 (Many museums are closed today.)

10am. Metro to the Palais Garnier (8th arrondissement) to explore this Belle Époque masterpiece of architecture — the setting for the original Phantom of the Opera. Nearby are the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores. Afterwards, walk down to the Ile St. Louis (4th arr.) home to small shops and cafés and the famous Berthillon ice cream — plus splendid views of the Seine.

or

10:15am. Take Metro up to the village of Montmartre (18th arr.) for the views from the front of Sacre Coeur. Walk by the only vineyard left in Paris, visit the open-air artists’ market in Place du Tertre, then explore the shops and restaurants of Montmartre.

6:30pm. Group meets for wine in the hotel salon.

Tuesday, July 24

9:30am. Metro to the Rodin Museum and Garden (7th arr.), then explore rue Cler, the famous “foodie” street. Nearby are the Invalides (Napoleon’s tomb), Champ de Mars and Eiffel Tower, many streets of small shops and excellent restaurants (6th arr.). Or take the famous 69 bus across Paris to Pere Lachaise Cemetery (20th arr.).

or

9:45am. Take the bus to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (1st arr.) for the Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibit. Then wander down rue St. Honoré (great shopping and chocolates) to the elegant Palais Royal and covered Passage Vivienne.

4:30pm. Gather in the lobby for Donna’s very popular tasting tour of French wines. You’ll visit local wine bars and meet the cavistes who run them.

6:30pm: Group meets for wine in the hotel salon (except for those with Donna).

Wednesday, July 25

7:30am. Take Metro to Gare St. Lazare for the 45-minute train ride to the small town of Vernon, then a local bus to Giverny, Monet’s home. (You might want to walk back from Giverny to Vernon, only about three miles on a quiet paved trail.) Back to Paris after lunch to see  Monet’s huge water lily paintings at the Orangerie (1st arr.).

or

9:30am. Metro to the 6th arrondissement to visit department store Le Bon Marché, then shop on rue Grenelle (shoes), Cherche Midi (small boutiques), or just walk and relax in the Luxembourg Gardens.

6:30pm: Group meets for wine in the hotel salon.

Thursday, July 26

9:30am. Metro to Gare St. Lazare for the 15-minute train ride to Surenses, where you’ll visit the American Military Cemetery and the very moving Resistance Memorial at Mont Valérien.

or

10:15am. Walk over to Parc Monceau, then visit the beautiful and tragic Nissim de Camondo house museum (8th arr.). Then, if you like, Metro to the Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum with the inside-out architecture.

6:30pm: Group meets for wine in the hotel salon.

Friday, July 27

8:45am.  Metro to the newly-redone  Musée D’Orsay (7th) early to see your favorite Impressionist paintings and others, then walk through charming streets to St. Germain des Près (6th arr.) for specialty shops in the decorative arts. Or, if you’re serious about antiques, cross the Champ de Mars to Village Suisse (15th arr.).

or

9:30am. Metro to the Marais (3rd and 4th arr.), to shop in the boutiques, enjoy the arcades, art galleries and garden of the Place des Vosges, and visit the Shoah Memorial. Walk along the Paris Plage, the temporary beach Paris sets up every year on the banks of the Seine.

6:30pm: Group meets for wine in the hotel salon.

Saturday, July 28

9:30am. Metro to the Marché aux Puces Saint-Ouen at Clignancourt (18th arr.), site of the enormous Paris flea market, where you can buy anything from antique home furnishings and jewelry to downright mundane everyday goods. Donna helps you find your way to the most enticing dealers.

or

9:45am. Metro or walk to the Marché des Pont de l’Alma (16th arr.), one of our favorite street markets. Then walk to the Palais de Tokyo, the avant garde art museum of Paris, or the Musée Marmottan for even more Monets and other Impressionists. Or just spend your last afternoon shopping in your favorite stores.

6:30pm: Group meets for wine in the hotel salon.

Sunday, July 29

Depart early for your flight home.  Hotel check-out time is 11am.

These are just some of the places you might visit. We’ll help you choose the things you’re most interested in, and we’ll tell you the best way to get there. No matter what you choose, Donna and I will always be available by phone.

If you’ve got a special interest, we can help you map out how to find what you’re looking for. We’ll point you to the city’s most enticing patisseries, confiseries and salons du thé and tell you who has the very best salted caramels or pastel-colored macarons. We’ll let you know where to go to see the best views of Paris without the crowds (one is the roof of a department store).

Plus, one night you’ll join a small group on Donna’s wine-tasting tour. You’ll drink with the cavistes where Parisians buy wine, not the places that cater to American tourists. This experience alone usually costs €125 a person, but it’s included in your trip.

And, for you shopaholics, because this trip is in July, it coincides with one of the two major sales periods in Paris stores. (Paris law only allows sales twice a year, so the timing is important.) Although a few small stores may already be closed for their annual summer holiday, all the major stores will be open and offering big discounts.

What’s not on the itinerary above are the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and St. Chapelle. We figure you’ve probably seen those on a past visit. But if you haven’t – or you just want to go again — we can help you plan your visit to those places too.

Who Should Come?

This is the perfect trip to do by yourself; you’ll make new friends and always have people to do things with if you like. Or come with a friend or spouse or partner and you can spend time together and also have time to pursue your separate interests.

The trip is also perfect for mothers and daughters, or sisters, or any small group who want to travel together but don’t want the hassle of planning it all in advance.

Whether you’ve been to Paris before, or this is your first trip, you’ll find places to go and things to do that will delight you that you’ll remember the rest of your life.

When Is the Trip?

The trip begins on Sunday, July 23 and ends on Sunday, July 30. Since most flights to Paris are overnight, you’ll probably fly out from your home city on Saturday to arrive Sunday morning in Paris.

What Does It Cost?

Only $2180 a person, based on single occupancy. (We love having our own rooms.) Here’s what’s included:

- Seven nights at the Hotel Relais Monceau in the stylish 8th arrondissement. It’s a neighborhood of magnificent historic mansions and the Parc Monceau, often called the most beautiful park of Paris.

- Hot breakfast every morning, including bacon and eggs, with fresh squeezed orange juice

- Daily Paris Metro and bus passes – Wine socials with the trip leaders and group every evening

- One evening wine-tasting tour with Donna

- Full set of Paris Metro maps by arrondissement.

- Your choice of activities every day: Donna or Sheila will accompany you and others, or you can set off on your own

- Directions and instructions for how to get to all the significant places on the trip by Metro or bus from the hotel, and how to return – plus what to see, where to eat and what else is nearby and not to be missed

- Restaurant reservations made for you weeks or even months in advance. We’ll send you a list of the hottest Paris restaurants and places where the French dine that many Americans haven’t discovered. (The sooner you book, of course, the better chance you have of getting a reservation at a really hard place to get into.)

- Personal consultations with Donna or Sheila to help you plan your memorable days.

What’s not included: lunches and dinners, tickets to museums and attractions, out-of-town train tickets, airport transfer, your flight to Paris and back home or anything else not listed under “What’s Included.”

Ready to pack your bags? Here’s How to Sign Up.

Call me at (301) 587-4555 (eastern time) or drop me a line in the Comments section, and I’ll get in touch to get you started. You can reserve your space with a deposit of $400 by check or credit card via PayPal.

Once you’ve signed up, we’ll send you information about how to get from Charles de Gaulle airport to the hotel and a reading list about Paris. We’ll also send a list of restaurants where Parisians eat, plus all the newest “foodie” places, so we can make advance reservations for you. Closer to the actual start of the trip, we’ll inquire about any museum or train tickets you might need in advance, and we’ll have those waiting for you when you arrive (you’ll pay for the tickets, but not the service for buying them). Your final payment of $ 1780 is due Friday, June 9, 2012. Please read about cancellations in  the Terms and Conditions before you register.

There’s lots more information at Frequently Asked Questions.