WHO AM I ?
Click here to read my BIO
I - My not-so-secret aversion to guided tours
“Anne Jeanne in Paris” was born in 2014 mainly out of one simple truth: traditional guided tours make me squirm.
Don’t get me wrong—there are brilliant, certified guides out there, bursting with knowledge and charisma. They’re just not my cup of tea.
If you adore headsets, color-coded umbrellas, and marching in sync with 10 to 30 strangers, feel free to un-follow me now (no hard feelings!). But if you’ve ever felt an itch to step out of the line, keep reading—I suspect you’re my kind of traveler! 🙂
- I truly think that travelling is more about breathing and feeling rather than learning. In a “studying process” you might miss the soul and spirit of the country.
- Back when I launched my project, I started meeting one or two followers at a time (mainly followers who knew me already through social media), swapping emails first and then spending half-days wandering Paris together.
- It was my “half days and days with Anne Jeanne in Paris. And I always included sometime spent in a café (cafés are such an important part of French culture and a favorite place to exchange about Paris and French culture and traditions).
- Those intimate strolls—part conversation, part discovery—became the DNA of what I used to offer: a personal, down-to-earth way to meet Paris rather than merely observe it…
- My range of services has now expanded, but “I still offer half days with Anne Jeanne”.
- I now take a very limited number of clients every month so that each of you gets my full attention
- (Curious? Click here for details about my services.)
II – A few provocations about travel itself
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. M. Proust
TRAVEL DOESN’T CHANGE YOU; YOU CHANGE THE TRAVEL (that, it’s my own quote ! lol)
- Travel doesn’t change you; you change the travel.
The myth of the journey that “transforms” you is romantic, but it’s you—your quirks, your history, your curiosity—who shapes every step. Bring the same eyes you use at home, and the world will reveal itself accordingly. - Moving in a pack won’t make a place feel foreign. Whether the group is five or fifty, whether the operator is global or local, you’re still wrapped in the comfort blanket of your own language and culture. Secure? Yes. Immersive? Not so much.
- Distance isn’t measured in kilometers.
Marcel Proust nailed it: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” A thousand-mile flight can be less eye-opening than a slow walk through a neighborhood corner café…if you’re really looking. - Group travel is like peeking through a closed window with the shutters wide open.
You’ll hear plenty of facts and anecdotes, but the invisible pane is still there. You haven’t really breathe the city and you still travel with a part of your country and culture that you’ll have brought with you.
- What’s around your own home can be an inexhaustible source of discovery. Even the small details can be a source of inspiration. And I truly think that one can travel without moving (and without any toxic substances LOL).
- Why limit yourself to books about Paris written by authors of your own country and culture ? I suggest books written by French authors. One of the greatest way to get closer to what Paris and French culture are (Victor Hugo, Maupassant, Colette, F. Sagan…).
- You’d like to cook a French meal ? Favor French recipe created and written by French cooks. If you have the opportunity, meet Parisians This is mainly the people of a country who made the country how it is, with its architecture, its cafés, its art… No people = No country
- Don’t always stay with people whose culture and language are the same as yours. (I noticed that most travelers and even expats almost only meet people of their own country…)
That, in my opinion, is “breathing a place” and getting closer to the city and its culture.
As my range of services has expanded, I now only offer a very limited number “half days with Anne Jeanne” every month.
All my services are about sharing my Paris and French culture, in a naturel and personal way.
(Curious? Click here for details about my SERVICES)
Anne Jeanne in Paris” half days is my answer to the traveler who craves authenticity over choreography.
Think of it as Paris with fewer filters:
- conversation instead of commentary and speeches,
- breathing instead of box-ticking,
- genuine French rhythm instead of fast-forward sightseeing.
- I don’t lead, I share (lol)
If that sounds like the kind of adventure you’ve been missing…
…Bienvenue…
You’re in the right place!
