Our June tour is full, but no worries, we have another Papa's Paris Tour lined up for September 23 - October 1. Save $1,800 if you reserve by Friday, June 2. 0% interest payment plan available.

And for those wanting to range farther afield, join us for Picasso's Pyrenees, a fun and art filled getaway where the Pyrenees Mountains meet the Mediterranean in Southwestern France from September 10-18. We are working to make this very affordable. Pricing and details here. Or just call me for a quote!

You’ve been eating all your life, so you think you know all there is to know about dining, right? Well, guess again. Before you set out for France, it’s a good idea to brush up on the finer points of French dining customs. First, there are different kinds of dining establishments in France, ranging from the simple café to the multi-starred restaurant, with brasseries and bistrots in between. What’s the difference?

There are only two spots left on our June 17 - 25 Papa’s Paris Tour! Join me and our lovely ladies on our traveling party as we wine and dine our way across Paris, flirt with Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, imbibe the wisdom of Gertrude Stein, and have Zelda teach us how to dance the Charleston. Find out more on our site and our blog, or just call me. Reserve by Friday, 5/19 (tomorrow!) to ensure a room and save $670!

There are now only 2 spots left on our Papa’s Paris Tour for June 17-25. Don’t miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Have questions, concerns? Don’t let them hold you back. Here are some of the questions I’ve received from clients, and my responses. 

Q. Is it safe to travel to Paris?
A. It’s safer to travel to Paris than to stay at home. Every year, more Americans are killed by their own furniture than by terrorism. In 2014, 32 Americans were killed worldwide by acts of terrorism. Every year, 35,000-40,000 Americans are killed in car crashes in the United States. The number has gone up by 10% in recent years due to the use of smartphones while driving. 

There are only 3 spots left for our Papa’s Paris Tour from June 17-25, 2017. We’d love to have you along for our leisurely stroll through Hemingway’s Paris, in which we’ll meet Papa himself at his favorite café, as well as Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, all in their favorite haunts! They will discuss, argue, dance, and generally hold forth as we go back in time to relive a bygone era. Call today in order to guarantee your room by May 15.

I recently read an article in the Guardian that described Berlin as a “wunderkammer” – an eclectic cabinet of wonders. Quirky places to visit in Berlin include the dinosaur-themed amusement park built by the East German government and abandoned for the past 15 years; the “Bridge of Spies” used to exchange captured spies; and the derelict NSA listening station that collected intelligence.

Coming up in a couple of weeks, April 27 to be exact, the King’s birthday is celebrated in the Netherlands. While there are a couple of dignified stately celebrations, for the most part King’s Day is celebrated with an all-out, country-wide party. You’ll notice a lot of orange – orange hats, aprons (in which you can carry multiple shot glasses), t-shirts, pants (Dutch men often sport colorful trousers), hair, faces, and anything else that can be painted or dyed. Although the Dutch flag is red, white, and blue, orange is the color of the royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. 

How did April 1 become the date on which light-hearted folks around the world play gentle jokes on their nearest and dearest? For those of us on the Gregorian calendar, it came into being in the late 1500s when the New Year’s celebration was changed from March 25-April 1 to January 1. Anyone continuing to celebrate New Year’s Day in March or April was thus a fool. Amazingly cultures as diverse as India, Denmark, and Iran celebrate a form of April Fool’s Day on or about the same date. 

In France, the holiday is known as poisson d’avril – April’s Fish – and it is celebrated by secretly pinning or taping a picture or cutout of a fish on an unsuspecting victim.

When you think of France, what’s the first thing you think of? If you’re like me, it’s the food. In my opinion, and based on numerous grueling tests of my own which I have conducted in the interest of improved international relations, no cuisine in the world compares to French cuisine (of course, I was born in France, so I’m biased).

French cuisine ranges from cuisine bourgeoise or cuisine bonne femme – good home cooking – to nouvelle cuisine (simple, quality ingredients presented in a straightforward manner often with unusual pairings in a restaurant) and haute cuisine (fancy, rich, expensive foods cooked by a chef in a restaurant). No matter what you call it, I call it good.

We are getting very excited about our Papa's Paris Tour from June 17-25, coming up in 3 short months! Our rooms in the most charmant hotel in the Latin Quarter have been reserved, our menus are in the process of being chosen, our route has been laid out, and our playwright, Angelo Parra, has provided three delightful scripts starring Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. A short list of actors has been chosen for the parts and remain to be cast in these four roles. What’s not to like!