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- "Privileged Entries into France", or PEF, is a non-profit organization...
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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.
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- A network established over many years explains the number and originality of our proposals
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•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.
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•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.
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- For specific information on...
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),
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Catherine Loveland Aubin Trip designer & historical guide Vassar B.A., Harvard M.A., Columbia PhD All in History |
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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. |
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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. |






