Connoisseurs’ Paris in Europe

Brochure

Click here to download our Escorted Tours 2010.

Dates

20th - 24th April 2010

Tour Leader

Nicola Howard lived in Paris, Barcelona and Rome before joining Specialtours in 1996.  She has a degree in History of Art and has worked with fine art dealers and photographers.  Nicola speaks fluent French, Italian and Spanish and has specialised in these countries, as well as in Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East.  Georgian Ireland is another area of expertise and enthusiasm.  Nicola has arranged and accompanied tours for the Art Fund and many other art and garden groups, mostly from the United States.

Guest Lecturer

Roger White trained as an architectural historian at Oxford.  He was Secretary of the Georgian Group (1984-91) - devising and leading many tours - and of the Garden History Society (1992-96).  He organised the exhibition Nicholas Hawksmoor & the Replanning of Oxford, shown at the RIBA and the Ashmolean Museum (1997-98).  Publications include the English Heritage guides to Chiswick House, Witley Court and Belsay Hall, a catalogue of the architectural drawings at Magdalen College, Oxford and numerous articles.  He edited A Life of Frederick, Prince of Wales: A Connoisseur of the Arts (2007) and wrote the text for Oxford Sketchbook (2005). He is a contributing editor of House & Garden.

Costs

Per person: £1,895

Single Supplement: £360

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The familiar sights of Paris need no introduction, but there are many others for which expert knowledge or a special entrée is required. This unique tour looks behind some of these closed doors and explores a range of fascinating hidden interiors, most by special arrangement.

In the course of our stay in Paris we shall encompass four centuries of architectural and decorative style from Baroque, Rococo, neo-Classical and Napoleonic to fin de siècle and Art Deco.  We shall visit some of the fine 17th and 18th century hôtels particuliers built by courtiers of Louis XIV. These include the splendid newly restored Hôtel de Lauzun on the Ile-St-Louis, and we hope to include the fabulous Galerie Dorée of the Hôtel de Toulouse, now owned by the Banque de France, and, subject to confirmation, the Prime Minister's residence at the Hôtel Matignon.

In addition, we see L'École de Beaux-Arts where many of Europe's leading artists trained, the Baroque Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, the Rococo salons of the Hôtel de Soubise, which houses part of the national archives, the magnificent Art Deco Grand Rex cinema and, by special arrangement, the historic British Embassy. We also visit the privately-owned Petite Malmaison built for, and decorated by, the Empress Josephine, and the Château de Bagatelle, a delightful former hunting lodge with landscaped gardens in the Bois de Boulogne, which will be especially opened for us.

Day 1: Tuesday, 20th April

London / Paris
Depart London St. Pancras for Paris by Eurostar with lunch on the train. 

Arrive Gare du Nord and transfer to the Hotel de Castiglione in the Faubourg St Honoré, where four nights are spent.  Afternoon visit to the Hotel de Lauzun on the Ile-St-Louis, a splendid hôtel particulier or townhouse of the Louis XIV period.  Dinner at the hotel.

Day 2: Wednesday, 21st April

Paris
Morning visit to the Ecole des Beaux Arts, housed since 1816 in a former monastery.  Continue to the elegant Marais district, with its aristocratic mansions of the 16th-18th centuries. Visit the historic Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal: the Library was established in the old royal arsenal, founded by Henri II, in 1797 and later became a meeting place of the Romantic poets.  It retains some small 17th century rooms with original Baroque decorative features: the Salon de Musique has recently been restored and the original paint colours have come to light.

Lunch at a typical brasserie.  Afternoon visit to the exquisite Rococo salons of the Hôtel de Soubise, which houses the National Archives.  Later there will be a guided visit of an 18th century house on the Rive Gauche, as well as a reception at another private home.  Dinner under own arrangements.

Day 3: Thursday, 22nd April

Paris
Close to the hotel is the Hôtel de Charost, built in 1722, acquired in 1803 by Napoleon's sister Pauline Borghese, later residence of the British Ambassador and, since 1825, the British Embassy.  Visit this fascinating interior (by special permission), with its decoration of the Louis XVI and Empire periods.  Subject to permission, there will also be a visit to the privately-owned Maison Opéra, with its evocative suite of unspoilt 19th century interiors.

Lunch at a brasserie known for its Art Nouveau décor.  Visit two other hôtels particuliers, in the neo-Classical style.  The Hôtel de Bourrienne, dating from circa 1787, is known for its Napoleonic and Art Nouveau decoration.  Also see the interior of the Rex Cinema, a fine example of Art Deco.  Dinner under own arrangements.

Day 4: Friday, 23rd April

Paris
Permission has been requested to visit the Banque de France, with its fabulous Baroque Galerie Dorée.  Drive to the Chateau de Bagatelle, originally an 18th-century hunting lodge, designed by Francois-Joseph Belanger for the young Comte d'Artois, later Charles X.  Continue to La Petite Malmaison private home of Empress Josephine, built in 1805.

Lunch at the Brasserie Malmaison.  Return to the centre and see the interior of the restaurant Prunier.  Dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 5: Saturday, 24th April

Paris
In the morning, visit the Art Deco Salle des Fêtes of the Town Hall of the 5th Arrondissement in the Place du Panthéon.  A private visit to the Prime Minister's Residence at the Hôtel Matignon has been requested: it was built by Courtonne in 1721 and has been considerably remodelled.  Talleyrand, diplomat and statesman, owned the house between 1808 and 1811.

Lunch at Brasserie Vagenende. Transfer to the Gare du Nord for the Eurostar service to London, arriving St. Pancras late afternoon.