Version française
 

A several-day program, created for visiting groups

Nobles, kings and rebels march into the future
  •  France is famous for two great reasons – a flowering that began with the Court and demands for social justice 

 

 

Sun King and family resemble the gods (1660)

 

PEF can develop programs on most of the themes that are traditionally connected with France and some that are new. But many tour or event-organizers do the same.
The common man is shown as hero (1830)

 

In-depth knowledge, experience and a vast network created over time makes us different. This program provides an example of the variety that such contacts permit. Please suggest other program ideas!

 

 

  • "Nobles, kings and rebels..." shows the evolution ofthos opposed forces, which over centuries

    express the same inspiration in new ways

The Sun King's secret queen
Wedding dance

 

 

•Nobles and court (day-time events)

 

•Kingship: the royal tombs at Saint-Denis

 

•Royal splendor: Versailles and, for its lasting influence, the Senate

 

• Decoding aristocrats' art: Louvre

 

• Ideology: Renaissance  Museum

 

• Taste: Silks of kings; "Watteau's château"


• Parks and gardens: Renaissance water garden, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles

 

• Luxury: workshops use techniques that began with the Court for haute couture

 

• "France's secret queen", one-woman show performed in a Versailles salon (shown above).

 

 

• Rebels (after dark)

 

We show how the so-called rabble left - and leaves - its mark through music and dance, as by 

 

• A talk or performance on the cancan's defiant start, by a former Moulin Rouge soloist.

 

• Proletarian Chansons françaises in a bistro near working-class Bastille.

 

• The exuberant vitality of singers of immigrant origin in a convivial café.

 

• An African queen's wedding dance in a bar where immigrants meet (pictured above).


Parisians may join us, giving their own insights into their city's tumultuous past.

 

The gala evening takes place in an appropriate setting.

 

 

• Cost: The budget for this or other specialized tours is worked out between us. For a general picture,

please CLICK.

 

 

 

Credits: paintings / Mignard (court painter) "Louis XIV and his family in 1661", Museum of the Château of Versailles ; Delacroix, "Liberty leading the people", Louvre;  photos / Claude Abron

 


Unexpected Paris guided tours