I first saw Notre Dame de Paris when I was 14 years old, and it was love at first sight. I grew up in western Canada where the majority of the buildings that surrounded me had been built in the past 50 years. To see a building older than 100 years was rare. Over 800 …
Scattered across the city of Paris, nearly 100 (mostly) green cast-iron fountains provide free water to those who need it. Personally, I fill up at these fountains on a near daily basis in the summer when the heat is relentless and I’m on tour all day. But where did these fountains come from? And why …
Whenever I travel to a new city, the first thing I do is book a tour. I may be a bit biased in this inclination seeing as I work as a tour guide, but it was precisely because I loved going on tours so much that I chose this job. Long before I ever led …
This week marks the official end of winter and the beginning of spring. For myself and my fellow tour guides, this is also known as the time of year when people begin to visit Paris in ever greater numbers. Overall, it’s estimated that over 40 million people visit Paris every year, with most of them …
Parisians take their leisure time seriously, which to be honest, is one of the many reasons I love living in this city. There are over 420 public parks and gardens spread out across Paris, and when the weather is nice, they are all packed. For visitors, most people make a point of going to see …