Yves – Private Tour Guide in Paris
My name is Yves; I’m a postgraduate licensed private tour guide in Paris and founder of Broaden-horizons.fr. I’m a French Art and History enthusiast. I have more than 25 years in Paris. I’m doing tours in English, Spanish, and French, aiming to give you the best tour guide services. I have been rewarded three times by Tripadvisor (2020, 2022,2023). I tell you more about me and all you need to know about tourist guide certifications in France and related subjects.
You can also check my level of English (as my Napoleon knowledge) with my interview about Napoleon movie by Ridley Scott, on the History Movie Podcast. There are three episodes of one hour.
My tours in Paris start at 120 € for 2 hours for two people; booking is fully integrated online, and no contact is needed. But, if you have any doubt, you can contact me.
Email: [email protected] – Phone / Whatsapp: from Outside: +33 6 64 07 13 81, from France: 06 64 07 13 81.
My Tours in Paris
I specialize in Private tours, and I often work for high-level luxury tour agencies providing bespoke tours for their customers.
In Broaden-horizons.fr you accede to me without an intermediary at a favorable cost. 2h private tours in Paris start at 120 € for 2. See here the tariff page.
I have personally curated all the broaden-horizons.fr private tours in Paris, which are:
- Museum tours
- Themed tours
- First-timers tours
- District tours
The Broaden-horizons.fr Paris guided tours page presents all my private tours available in Paris.
Here below is a special selection of my three preferred tours in Paris.
Louvre Evening Tour
By far the best choice to visit the Louvre, avoiding massive crowds.
Napoléon in Paris
Initially designed for Napoleon’s fans this tour is full of fantastic Paris landmarks.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés
A tour with an incredible diversity. For fans of art, culture, architecture & history.
FAQ – My favorite Paris
What is my preferred district? Le Marais is an incredible open-air museum of the 16th and 17th centuries. I know it very well as I used to live there for about 15 years in total.
What is my preferred museum? Clearly, the Louvre. I started to know it quite well, but I always learn something new each time I go there. I propose a large selection of Louvre tours, from first-timers to themed tours.
What are my preferred places in Paris? I will say Palais-Royal or Place des Vosges for the most famous ones. But there are also a lot of more intimate, lovely places that I will be happy to share with you during my tours.
What is my preferred monument? I’m a fan of churches. Apart from Notre Dame, the trio of churches I like best in Paris are probably Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Saint-Pierre de Montmartre for being the two oldest of Paris and Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais for its amazing white sobriety.
Place des Vosges, Le Marais, Paris. Photo © Broaden Horizons.
FAQ – My Favorite Places in the Paris Area
Château de Fontainebleau
Why do I’m a fan of Fontainebleau? Because, this is the French Royal Castle by excellence.
The first castle was probably built under Louis VI le Gros (the fat) in the 12th century. Most of the present castle was built during the French Renaissance by François I, Henry II, and Henry IV and houses amazing Renaissance mannerist frescos, paintings, and sculptures.
But Fontainebleau is also an Imperial Palace. It is the place where Napoleon’s farewell to its old guard on four April 1814. The Napoleon appartement is still visible and there is also an important Napoleon Museum.
Fontainebleau Castle. The Courtyard of Farewells.
Some Hints & Suggestions
Best District for Chocolate Boutiques
Best Ice Creams & Sorbets in Paris
Berthillon on île Saint-Louis.
A Luxury Pause at One of the Ritz Bars
Bar Vendôme, Salon Proust, or Ritz Bar you have the choice, but if you are American, you may prefer the famous Bar Hemingway.
Restaurant of Napoleon & The French Révolution
Restaurant Grand Véfour. Amazingly the decoration is still the one from the French Revolution. A Must.
Batobus
Batobus is the easy and cheap hop-on and off to avoid the hassle of traffic Jam in Paris. 9 stops in the center of Paris. Amazing views from the Seine River!
Batobus – Louvre station. Photo © Broaden Horizons.
Petit Palais
In a magnificent Belle Epoque building, between Champs Elysée and Alexander III Bridge, is the Paris Fine Art Museum. Its café (also a restaurant) and tiny garden are usually an amazing haven of peace in the heart of Paris.
City Pharma
Looking to bring home some of the finest French beauty products at discount prices? City Pharma is a huge hybrid shop with regular pharmacy, beauty, and homeopathy products. Usually crowded, avoid the weekend, and come early in the morning.
How I Became a Guide (biography)
Before Being a Guide
I’m a postgraduate at Paris Dauphine-PSL University, where I passed a Master of Science (M.S.) in Applied Economics and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Information Systems.
PSL University is a prestigious Parisian collegiate University that includes the Collège de France (formerly Collège Royal, founded in 1530 by King of France François I), France’s most prestigious research establishment.
According to QS University World University 2024 Ranking PSL University ranks n°1 one in France (N°24 worldwide), meanwhile Sorbonne University ranks n°2 (n°56 Worldwide).
I have worked for eight years in the Companie de Saint-Gobain, a French multinational corporation founded in 1665 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the Sun King Minister of Finance. Initially named the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs (Royal Mirror-Glass Factory), one of its first big orders was the mirrors of the Galerie des Glaces in the Palace of Versailles.
I traveled the world and developed an IT career in different European countries and International corporate organizations.
The company that created the mirrors of the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles for the Sun-King still exists. The Compagnie de Saint-Gobain is now a world leader in construction products. Credit Unplash.
A Passion for Arts & History
My passion for arts and history come from childhood; one of my grandmothers was a painter, while the other was a history teacher.
Arriving in my 40s, my interest in art and history gradually became more and more prominent, and I finally decided to share my passion by becoming a guide.
I studied history and art history at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts).
There I graduated with a BA in Heritage Development & Preservation with a Magna Cum Laude distinction and received my Tourist guide accreditation (Guide-conférencier) in English, Spanish, and French validate by the French Ministry of Culture.
The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers is one of the three founding Schools of the Grande école system (to be compared to the Ivy League schools in the United States or the Oxbridge in the United Kingdom), with École Polytechnique and École Normale Supérieure in 1794, during the French Revolution.
I also hold a Ville d’Art et d’Histoire régional certificate from the Centre Loire Valley Region, for which I had to pass a complementary demanding selection.
I worked at the famous Orléans Museum of Fine Arts, where I developed my skills in arts and paintings, something I’m now continuing in the Louvre Museum.
In the Orléans Museum of Fine Arts, I was an official guide for many temporary exhibitions, such as:
- Perronneau 18th century pastels.
- Rodin by the photographer Emmanuel Berry.
- Motais de Narbonne French and Italian 17th & 18th-century paintings collection, with the design of an on-demand special tour for the cultural association of the Italian Embassy.
I also did tours for special guesses of the city of Orléans or its Museum of Fine Arts, for example, his Excellency the Ambassador of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the full official delegation of the city of New Orleans, etc.
In 2017, I founded the Broaden-horizons.fr guided tours website which was continuously reward by Tripadvisor (except during Covid) since 2019.
I totalise more than two decades in Paris, and I’m always delighted to show my most beloved city to newcomers and those who desire to improve their knowledge of the city of lights.
I’m a member of the FNGIC and Guid’z guides associations, Paris Historique association and Napoleonic American Society.
My Last trainings
Off-season 2023-2024 (with Guid’z guides association)
- Ile Saint-Louis
- Petit-Palais (Belle Epoque)
- Château de Fontainebleau
- Rodin Museum
- The gardens of Versailles
- The gardens of Trianon (part of Versailles)
Training guided tour at FontaineBleau Castle. Photo © Broaden Horizons.
Off-season 2022-2023 (with Guid’z guides association)
- Luxembourg Garden (Jardin du Luxembourg): Garden of Marie de Medicis’s Palace, nowadays, the French Senat
- North Marais: Exploring the 16th to 18th century famous Paris le Marais mansions.
- Versailles: The famous palace from Louis XIV to the of 19th century.
- Mineralogy Museum – Mines Paris – PSL: The use of mineral pigments for painting.
- The Louvre: Ancient Greece sculptures.
- The Malmaison: The Mansion of the young Bonaparte, and the one of his ex-wife Empress Josephine.
Jardins du Palais du Luxembourg. Photo © Broaden Horizons.
Off-season 2021-2022 (with Guid’z guides association)
- The Louvre: Italian Renaissance.
- Invalides Musée de L’Armée.
- Musée Carnavalet: (historical museum of Paris).
- The Louvre: Dutch and Flemish paintings.
The Dome of the Invalides photo taken from the garden of the Rodin Museum. Photo © Broaden Horizons.
Some of My Reviews
Exploring the arc of art history at the Louvre
We took the evening Louvre tour with Yves and it was one of the highlights of our time in Paris. The Louvre can be overwhelming, so if your goal is to go and take a selfie with the Mona Lisa and call it good, that’s fine. I had been there before and wanted something more than just the standard audio tour. My wife and I were looking for a more unique experience with more depth exposing us to more about the works, the history of the museum, and the larger arc of art history as a whole, and that’s what we got from our tour with Yves! His selection of works to highlight during the tour was well chosen to get at that arc of art history to help the interested laypeople like us. Yves brought a ton of energy and knowledge that really drove the tour and got us involved from start to finish. As the tour went on, he was adapting some of the focus points to the topics/lines of questioning that we were focusing on throughout, providing a very personal feel to the end product of the tour. I have a technical mindset as well as an interest in history, and he picked up on that from my questions and deftly weaved elements of that into the tour as we progressed. It was obvious that he is guiding tours due to his passion for the subject matter. As a history enthusiast, I also really appreciated how he was very thorough in pointing out what he knew (and could back up with research) versus where there was some speculation in the historical consensus. As a private tour, I doubt there are any as affordable with this high of a product and I would highly recommend Yves as a guide for anyone looking for compelling depth and energy in a private tour.
The highlight of our trip!!
“This was the best investment and hands down the highlight of our trip!! We booked a tour of the Louvre with Yves. The Louvre is huge and there is so much to see. In two hours, Yves managed to show us an incredible amount. He is deeply knowledgeable about art history, and it was amazingly helpful to have him contextualize what we were seeing for us. We are already planning to book with him again the next time we are in Paris. Don’t hesitate—this is an experience that is worth every penny!!”
Paris historical tour
Fascinating, educational and fun tour in Paris. Private guide who was passionate and knowledgeable and tailored the tour specifically for me.
Great Historic Tour with Relatable and Fun Guide
Yves curated a private tour of Napoleonic history for my history buff spouse and myself. We had such a great time walking around learning about Napoleon I and Napoleon III and the impact they had on the city of Paris. I am a history buff but not nearly as knowledgeable about Napoleon as my spouse, and Yves was able to both jump into deep dives for my spouse as well as explaining things high level for me. We will be back for other tours – what a fantastic experience!
Joan of Arc/ Orleans
What can I say about Yves? He is the absolute best. He is very considerate of his audience and he genuinely wants you to have a great experience. He went above and beyond for our tour.
He answered all of our questions (even the ones we thought weren’t a big deal turned out to be very informative). Yves also did a great job of weaving the history and importance of Orleans into this tour. I feel like we could’ve hung out with him all day. We can’t wait to visit Orleans again! Highly, highly recommended.
Yves is a wonderful guide!
I booked a tour with Broaden Horizons and had Yves as my guide. Since nobody else booked a tour that day, I was lucky to have Yves to myself. He was not only very well informed and interesting, he went out of his way to give me as much information as possible based on my personal curiosity. In other words, an almost tailor made tour! Chapeau to Broaden Horizons for having such a wonderful guide
More about Tour Guide in France & in Paris
Why Hire a Private Tour Guide? Do You Need One to Visit Paris?
Well, yes and no, it depends on what you want.
- For a first overview of Paris and a familiarisation with its layout, hop-on-hop-off buses are undeniably helpful! They’ll take you directly to all the postcard spots.
- The Parisian metro, one of the oldest in the world, is known for its exceptional density within the capital’s territorial limits. The metro can take you to every corner of the city.
So, in both cases, no tour guide is needed.
Now, to understand the great history of Paris linked with so many amazing historical facts, you need a tourist guide, and you have to choose to take a group tour or hire a private guide.
Group tour means a nonflexible tour in terms of schedule, route, and content, with a highly reduced possibility to ask questions with a tourist guide not available for you but for all the group.
A private tour guide means the opposite service. YOUR tour guide will only be available for YOU, as a couple, with friends, or as a family, to give YOU maximum satisfaction during your tour!
Why not follow a Free tour? There is a Tourist Guide Too There
Free tours are not so free. They are group tours in which the “guide,” apart from delivering low-quality or inappropriate content, will spend a big part of his energy trying to persuade his guests that they have to tip him at the end of the tour as he can’t work for nothing…
Why hire a certified official guide
In France, certified tourist guides are called Guide-conférencier (guide lecturers).
To become an accredited Guide Conférencier, you have, first of all, to be admitted to the Ministry of Culture’s prestigious corresponding program.
Then, you must pass a specialized Bachelor’s training in arts, history, architecture, public speaking, group management, tourism management, etc., in which you have to demonstrate via a demanding written and oral exam your capacity to speak at least one foreign language at C1 level (Advanced in the Council of Europe’s Language Scale).
This demanding training is a guarantee of high qualifications and professionalism.
If you hire a non-certified guide, you may be lucky and deal with a talented, non-graduate multilingual fellow, but it will probably be different.
Only authorized persons can speak publicly in French national museums like the Louvre or Orsay. So, hiring a non-official guide there is a terrible idea.
How to Recognize an official guide, The Professional License Card
In France, the certified official tourist guides (Guide-conférenciers) received a special official card from the French Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
This card proves that a guide has graduated from the specific training to be a tourist guide in France.
In French national museums like Louvre or Orsay, the tourist guides must wear their license card around their neck during guided tours. If a “guide” does not wear his license card, it is not a good signal; if you doubt his competency, do not hesitate to ask your guide to show his card, it must look like the image below.
The Ville et Pays d’art et d’histoire (City and Country of Art and History) Label
Ville et Pays d’art et d’histoire (City and Country of Art and History) is a label that awards territories and cities that commit to the French Ministry to engage in an active approach to knowledge, conservation, and mediation of their heritage (historical, architectural, etc.).
As Paris is not under the Label, I passed it in the Loire-Valley, a worldwide region famous for its French Renaissance heritage (The Loire Valley castles) listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.
Tour creations under the label often imply local research and in-depth studies participating in the knowledge development of the guide in charge. I have curated a lot of tours for the label from 2017 to 2019 learning a lot doing it.
Qualities required to be a Paris Private Tour Guide
- In-depth knowledge of his tour field: Paris is massive in size and history. The guide should have personally curated the content of the tour he is doing.
- Curious and proactive: Exploring new subjects and zones is essential for a guide to remain at the top and not transform himself into a repeating machine
- Permanent training: with membership in one or more of the French guides associations (FNGIC, Guid’z, Ancovart, etc.)
- Foreign languages: An Obvious need quality when working with foreigners. You never stop to learn a language; such skills also require permanent training.
- Good Memory: An essential quality for a tour guide, memorizing tour data is much more on working and reworking it than rehearsing it.
- Humor/fun: Memorizing a lot of data is not all; they must be conveyed without boring the public; humor and fun are essential for a successful tour.
- Passion: it is a communicative quality as essential as humor and fun for a successful tour
- Adaptive and sensitive to customers’ diversity and knowledge. Passion has to be controlled. A guide has to know how to adapt his speech to the public.
Punctual, Organized, and Responsive: The last skill of the list, as it envelops all the others. Whatever the qualities of a guide, the tour or even the all-day may become a mess if the tourist guide is late or does not control his tour route.
Guesses do not have to wait or check around for a tour guide; everything should run smoothly during the tour.