Contact us by e-mail: paris@paris-walks.com
Paris Walks: the leading English language walking tour company in Paris since 1994
Our Team. We have a team of excellent guides, including those whose names appear below, and other guides who work with us from time to time. The guides for our scheduled tours are almost always native speakers (English or American) speak excellent French, have lived in France for many years and know French culture well. We aim to make French history accessible so that the tours are informative but also entertaining. We also have some charming French guides, Dominique and Beatrice, who are perfect ambassadors, taking great pleasure in showing Paris to visitors. These guides conduct some of our small group private tours, in Paris and Versailles, and our Taste of Paris tour. All our guides are university graduates, knowledgeable, professional and enthusiastic about Paris and its history.
Peter and Oriel Caine are qualified guide lecturers. Peter has a degree in History and History of Art, and Oriel has a masters in History and French literature. They are English but have both been living in Paris for the last 20 years and set up Paris Walking Tours in January 1994. They have developed about one hundred different themes for visits in and around the city. Local residents enjoy their SHORT SERIES of visits which provide an opportunity for those living here to deepen their knowledge of the city. These tours mix history, art and architecture and enable people to get to know lesser known museums and places of interest. In 2003 they published the book 'Paris Then and Now' a beautiful record of the city, past and present.
Jennifer Burdon is English and has been living in Paris for many years. She has a masters degree from Durham University where she specialised in 19th Century French literature. She now guides many of our tours, from The French Revolution to the Paris Sewers! She conducts our tours with charm and a subtle British wit.
Brad Newfield is a historian, with a doctorate, and a particular interest in architecture. He will help you enjoy and appreciate the architectural splendours of the Capital. He has also specialised in Americans in Paris, and regularly leads our Hemingway's Paris tour and the Writers of the Left Bank. He has developed a fascinating walk for us: Jefferson's Paris.
Iris Grossman Spencer studied translation and interpreting after obtaining a degree in French literature from Indiana University in Bloomington. She settled in Paris several years ago, and both translates and guides. Her interests are French history, and art history, and she loves sharing stories about the personalities who have shaped French history. Iris is our family specialist, bringing history alive for young people. She regularly guides our private family museum tours, and accompanies private tours to Versailes and Giverny by train.
Malcolm Livesey is British, loves France and French history, has lived in Paris for thirty years, where he has worked as a teacher, translator and guide. He is a classically trained singer with a lovely baritone voice which you may be lucky enough to hear on one of the group tours when the opportunity arises. He guides many of our walks but particularly enjoys tours with musical themes such as the Opera House and the cemetery of Pere Lachaise where many musicians have found their final resting place.
James M'Kenzie-Hall is a historian, educated at Durham in England, and at the Sorbonne. He is working on a doctoral thesis on illustrated travel books. His many interests include antiques and art, and the two World Wars are his speciality. His CD on the D Day landings can be purchased from the Red Wheelbarrow bookshop, and in museums and cemeteries in Normandy.
Fiona Ffoulkes is a specialist in all aspects of Fashion and textiles, both in history and today. She is both an artist and illustrator, she started as a designer in Britain, worked for the BBC on costumes for heritage dramas, then made an academic study of costume from the Napoleonic era. She now teaches fashion history and design in Paris. She conducts enjoyable walking tours and museum visits on this theme.
Mary-Ellen Manny is from Minnesota. She has lived in Paris for many years where she works as guide and teacher. She is enthusiastic about French history and culture, and has specialised in medieval history, the story of Paris during the Occupation, and French food. She has the honour of being made a judge for the famous Ste Maure goats' cheeses from the Loire Valley.
Christopher Spence grew up in England, (where he acquired his British sense of humour) but has lived in Paris for 10 years. He is a teacher, writer, performer, singer song-writer, and has a particuar interest in geology and palaeontology. He enjoys fossil hunting, has published articles in the International Herald Tribune on his special interests, and conducts many of our group tours. His tours are much enjoyed for the way he presents the information in an enjoyable way.
Our tours are recommended in these guide books and publications:
What the Papers Say!
July 2002 The Mail on Sunday (one of Britain's most famous papers) gave our walk in Montmartre 9/10 as the best guided tour offered in Paris, the best value for money, and described the guide as "unflagging in her enthusiasm for one of the most beautiful villages in Paris". The journalist reported a customer as having said "Even in the rain this was great. I'm going to do another walk tomorrow."
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