Notre-Dame to Le Marais Private Tour

2.5-hour Tour Content

Île de la Cité: the Heart of Paris

This Island is well known to be the island where is located Notre-Dame, the Paris cathedral, one of the most visited and photographed locations in the whole world. But the Cité island is also the historical heart of Paris, it was in the first centuries of our era the place where was standing a Gallo-Roman city first called Lutecia, which name changed during the beginning of the 4th century in civitas Parisiorum shorten in Paris.

Notre-Dame: Gothic Splendor

This cathedral is a work of art and poetry. We will start by admiring the details of the facade and go into the symbolism evoked by the artists who built and eventually restored Notre-Dame.

We will get a small taste of the fear and sheer despair felt by the prisoners who were asked to beg for forgiveness and redeem themselves right before they die in front of the portal portraying The Last Judgment.

We will look at the gargoyles, the statues, the shapes, the flying buttresses, the parvis…

Île Saint-Louis: Entry Gate of Le Marais

We will then walk through some of the quainter and more quiet places passing along Isle Saint-Louis finally reaching Le Marais.

Charming Saint-Louis Bridge links Cité Island and Saint-Louis Island, the place is often animated by street painters, singers, or musicians, and allows a nice view of two important monuments of the Le Marais west-end.

• Tour Saint-Jacques: a route of Santiago de Compostela UNESCO World Heritage monument.
• Hôtel de Ville: The Paris City Hall, drew by famous Italian Renaissance architect Boccador.

Previously used as pastureland the Saint-Louis island was only urbanized during the 17th century and it is full of hôtels particuliers (private mansions) of the time. They are so many of them that the place is often called “the island of the mansions”.

Ile Saint-Louis is also well known for its famous Bertillon Ice Creams which have the reputation to be the best in Paris.

Le Marais: Paris’s History Storefront

This district of Paris, as Ile Saint-Louis, is mainly known for its 17th-century Hôtels Particuliers. Nevertheless, we will see that Middle Ages also left their mark there. The discovery of medieval Paris is an important aspect of our Notre-Dame to Le Marais Walking Tour.

View of the 17th-century building of the Isle Saint Louis with, in the background, the Pont-Marie Bridge. 

In fact, Le Marais is one of the oldest districts of Paris which follows the traces of the ancient French kings as well as the various revolutions and riots which were not too scarce in the Paris of the past.

After evoking disappeared fortresses and royal palaces, the tour will come to an end as we pass through the unexpectedly quiet urban Village Saint Paul where tourists are encouraged to take in the beauty and peace of this off-the-beaten-track spot in Paris.