I am not a tour guide… I am Parisian ! (lol)

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. This is 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 and see what surrounds you in 2D rather than 3D!

Back when I launched my project, I started meeting one or two clients 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 time spent in a café, this time being an integral part of these half days (cafés are such an important part of French culture and a favorite place to exchange about Paris and French culture and traditions).
My clients didn’t have an expert in History or art with them, not the most fluent in English person. But that wasn’t what they were looking for. Our discussions used to cover various topics such as French education system, cinema, music, songs, daily life, shops, fashion, trends, changes in the city, architecture, tradition, the changes in the city over the years, the administration and political organisation.

And very often my clients were telling me about their life and their culture. No speech, no lecture. My clients could stop (for instance to take photos or popping in a shop) whenever they wanted… and so on
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.)

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 (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 Paris and French culture (Victor Hugo, Maupassant, Colette, F. Sagan…).

Why think about clichés or challenge clichés (it’s done continuously on FB and Insta)? Why not breathe the city, naturally, embracing sounds, words, surroundings, considering that people are part of the country’s culture and just enjoy life?

Why not 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.

Anne Jeanne in Paris is all about sharing my Paris and French culture in a personal and genuine way.

Sharing, breathing instead of box-ticking

Paris with less filters

WHO AM I ? my BIO