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Discovering an unexpected France – an alternative tourism

"I want to get off the path that has been been trodden again and again!" - French teacher in Rome
  • Even our "classic" visits go beyond the usual
The Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées and the Automobile Centennial

              This procession celebrates legendary sites with imagination. So do we

 

 

  • "Privileged Entries into France", or PEF, is a non-profit organization...

 

whose goal is to present a culture very different from what commercial mass tourism usually offers. This site suggests a great number of activities, all original, that show a culture in which dynamism mixes with tradition.

 

They are "privileged" because they are rarely available to ordinary travelers.

     

     

    • We reveal the important but unpublicized


     
    This milliner's workshop nestles in a neighborhood where craftspeople have clustered since the Middle Ages. Yet both Parisians and visitors ignore it.

    This visit is typical. For more, please click.

     

     

    • We help you understand this city and country

     

     
    Versailles’ perspective melts into the horizon, symbol of endless power.

    For example, during our bus tour of the city's most remarkable sites,  we, explain that the glorious perspectives originate with Versailles and that they emphasize the State's grandeur ...

     

     

    • A network established over many years explains the number and originality of our proposals
    One of our concerts in a member's salon

     

    •Our activities were created for Parisians, many of whom had demanding professions...

     

    and standards to match. As well, because Paris is a planet-known destination for the arts as well as the cultural capital of France, they were solicited by about 270 plays, 140 concerts, and 200 movies each week...  not counting what takes place through networks or outside the city proper. We had to be exceptional.

     

    French people opened private doors – "privileged entries". We came to produce several exclusive events a month... for 20 years.

     

    Today our local members, many of whom we have known for years, are our guides, our specialists and the people with whom we go on exploring.

     

    •  The excellent cost-quality ratio also comes from these origins and experience

     

     

     

     

     

    •That background explains why we can now propose...

     

    °Inside access to the worlds of elegance, cuisine and wines, art history, châteaux, landscaping... .

     

    °New ways of viewing world-known monuments and legendary neighborhoods... or little-known places.

     

    °Personal receptions in galleries, private collections and artists' studios.

     

    °Discoveries of the dynamism that minorities bring.

     

    °Excursions that combine the publicized and the private.

     

    °After dark...

     

    °For groups, soirées that feature almost any kind of music or original performances in which artists look back to their heritage and renew it.

     

     
    Our events for Parisian members were elegant yet convivial. We promote that combination.

    Our group was called the "Club culturel Franco-Américain" and began in 1985. It organized over 800 excursions, visits, excursions, week-ends and soirées, and morphed into "PEF" in 2002. This site presents a choice of those events, as well new possibilities, in this city of endless potential.

     

     
    • For specific information on...

     

    • Our approach, please click here.

    • Group events, here.

    (Most activities work for private visitors and groups both.)

    • How we began and why we're a non-profit, here...

     

     

     

    • How we differ from agencies (and work with them), here...

    •Our network, here, here and here...

    •Our fees here, with price examples here (North Americans, we're fully aware of the low dollar).

    • Exploring Paris continues

     

    These pages are detailed to give a clear idea of what to expect, and to let you discover France without leaving your screen. 

     

    Our blog, http://unexpectedparis.blogspot.com, gives notes from my ongoing explorations. That can be for my own pleasure, or to prepare for particular visits or create new proposals, as well as to follow the evolution of our artists or discover new ones. When I think a possibility merits looking into,  I invite PEF's local members join me, for the interest, for photos and for feedback. We explore this unexpected France together.

     

    I'd love to have you read the blog and will be happy to reply to your questions.

    A la prochaine fois (till next time),

     

     

     

                                 Catherine Loveland Aubin
                                   Founder & president

                              Trip designer & historical guide

    Vassar  B.A., Harvard M.A., Columbia PhD

    All in History

    • Member, Paris Office of Tourisme

     
        • "Privileged entries" can take place anywhere...

         

        when personal contacts permit them. That's the case for some of France's regions, for Geneva and for New York (please click).

         

        We look forward to suggesting possibilities elsewhere when we have the contacts to do so.

         

         

         

        Credits: webmaster / David Worms; Banner / Julien Debure; photos: milliner /Camilla Macfarlane ; other photos  / Claude Abron; painting / "The palace of Versailles in 1668", by Patel, Château of Versailles museum; Drawing / Harald Wolff

        Most photos and drawings are copyrighted, but we may give you permission to use them if you ask.