Paris Tour Overview
It is 1910 in Paris, and Coco Chanel has just opened a shop selling stylish, lightweight hats near Place Vendôme. A little farther down the Seine, visitors to the Paris Motor Show can admire the new neon lights on display. Up the hill in Montmartre and across the river in Montparnasse, a revolution is underway. Pablo Picasso has already painted (although not yet publicly exhibited) his shocking, angular Demoiselles d’Avignon. His friend Guillaume Apollinaire is working on a collection of “cubist” poems, Alcools, that experiment with perspective and will pave the way for generations of European and American poets looking for new modes of expression.
Step back into this world at once foreign and familiar, and experience the cultural history of Paris from a different angle. The 1920s of the “lost generation” are often seen the point of rupture with the conventions and values of the prewar world. But in fact, by the early 1900s a new order is already taking shape. Paris will be the epicentre, drawing ambitious writers and artists from across France and around the world. But the work done here will reflect a restlessness felt far beyond the French capital.
On this journey, you’ll trace the rise of modernism through the cafés and clubs of Montmartre and Montparnasse, the glamourous Grand Rex cinema, and more. Custom guided walks, literary discussions and museum visits will deepen your understanding of life in Paris in the early years of the 20th century and the role the city played in the creative explosion that took place during and after World War I. You’ll see how the war intensified and accelerated a profound cultural and social shift we still feel one hundred years later.
You’ll meet plenty of larger-than-life characters along the way, including Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Guillaume Apollinaire, Le Corbusier, and Kiki de Montparnasse. They lived through and tried to make sense of a time that was exhilarating and glamorous but also desperate and confusing. Read favourite works with fresh eyes, and let new readings give you an expanded sense of how writers, artists, architects and musicians strove to create a new way of being in a world that had become unrecognizable.
In Normandy, feel the power of places like Omaha Beach, Juno Beach, and the Pointe du Hoc. A local expert will guide you through the experiences of Canadian and American soldiers during D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. There will also be opportunities to savour Normandy’s ciders, cheeses, and its signature Calvados from our charming base in Bayeux.
Paris Itinerary at a Glance
Day 1: Arrive to Paris / Discussion # 1
Day 2: Montmartre walk
Day 3: Hemingway walk / Cooking class
Day 4: Discussion # 2 / Existentialism walk
Day 5: Rue Mallet-Stevens & Villa La Roche / Appartement-atelier
Le Corbusier
Day 6: Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris / Trocadéro (optional)
Day 7: Discussion # 3 / Time at leisure
Day 8: (beginning of optional extension) Depart tour or continue to Normandy, with cheese and Calvados tasting
Day 9: All-day guided coach tour focusing on Canadian and US D-Day sites
Day 10: Visit to Caen Memorial / free time
Day 11: Depart Normandy
Accommodation
The Hôtel Le Littré is our longtime home in Paris. This four-star hotel is located on quiet street in the 6th arrondissement, near the boulevard de Montparnasse and within walking distance of the Luxembourg Gardens, great shopping on the rue de Rennes and the rue du Cherche-Midi, and the major transit hub of Montparnasse-Bienvenüe. It offers bright, generously sized rooms, a quiet garden courtyard, and helpful staff.
In Bayeux, we will be staying at the Belle Normandy or similar.
Readings
- Selected poems by Guillaume Apollinaire
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
- Selected works by Kay Boyle, Simone de Beauvoir, and others
