Sandeman’s New Paris Tours

París fue ciudad que menos nos gustó en Europa, pero Alexandra fue la mejor guía. Divertida, ágil… abría historias que dejaba abiertas hasta el final para lograr nuestra atención. Si pueden hagan el tour con ella.

Llegué esta mañana a Paris y tenía muchas ganas de hacer el tour de Sandeman’s (más aún viniendo de Roma en donde no están).
La verdad fue genial, la guía que me tocó en español se llama Olalla, además de guía profesional es historiadora así que fue realmente enriquecedor.
Recorrimos varios puntos: Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, Saint Chappelle, Louvre, Tullerias y canales del sena. Cada uno con su historia o anécdota particular. Realmente vale la pena para un pantallazo de París así habiendo visto algunos sitios uno ya se hace una idea para recorrer solo.

Our walking tours of Paris were simply phenomenal. Probably the second best thing we did (the first being proposing to my fiancé so that’s not a fair comparison).
For our first tour: Our guide, Alberto, was second to none. He showed us around central Paris. It was engaging, exciting, and quite informative. We stopped by the louvre, the gardens by the louvre, Notre dame, a famous bridge, and we ended the tour overlooking all of the famous monuments in central Paris including the Eiffel Tower, the obelisk, and the Arch. He gave us brief, well informed and succinct historical perspectives of all these sites. Evidently old Paris is extremely interesting. If only every king was like Henry IV there wouldn’t have been a revolution!
Alberto did a fantastic job of balancing walking, information, and humor with his tour. I walked away with so much information without feeling like I was in a classroom. In fact, it was so interesting that I’d like to read more about 17^th and 18^th century France. If a tour guide can make me want to learn more about a subject on my own then they’ve certainly earned their tip.
But wait! That’s not all! (Billy Mays voice)
We did a second tour with the same company later in the day. This time, we toured northern Paris — Montmartre. Our tour guide — Esteban — was equally as proficient as Alberto. Friendly, hilarious, and informative. He also balanced walking, talking, and humor very well.
This tour was more about the Bohemian lifestyle in France, primarily about artists. We learned about the Moulin Rouge and other older cabarets and heard the stories about them.
We also learned about the artists of the time and their exceptionally depressing) stories including Van Gogh, Toulouse-​Laurtec and others. It seems that from great pain comes great art. Well, except for Picasso who lived until he was 91 and got really famous.
Both tours were beyond exceptional and are highly recommended. I would take the same tour in every city I ever visit from now on. Both Alberto and Esteban went well above the call of duty.