Paris Latin Quarter: Private Walking Tour & Notre Dame

4.99

(187 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I nearly missed our guide at the meeting spot outside Notre Dame — blame it on gawking at the gargoyles and getting distracted by a street musician playing “La Vie en Rose.” But she waved, and we set off into the Latin Quarter. The air had that mix of old stone and fresh coffee from a nearby café. I didn’t expect to feel so small standing by the cathedral, just listening to stories about medieval Paris while scooters zipped by. Our guide (Marie, who grew up in the 5th arrondissement) pointed out how the Seine curves around Île de la Cité — she said you can almost trace Roman footsteps here if you know where to look.

We wandered past Saint-Michel fountain (I tried to snap a photo but caught someone’s umbrella instead), then ducked into side streets where students from the Sorbonne were debating something in rapid French. Shakespeare and Company looked exactly like I’d imagined — books piled everywhere, a cat snoozing in the window. Marie told us Hemingway used to hang out there, which made me wish I’d brought a notebook. The bells from Saint Julien le Pauvre chimed as we passed; I felt like I was walking through layers of time, honestly.

The Musée de Cluny was closed for renovations, but Marie still showed us some Roman ruins peeking out behind construction fencing. She laughed and said Paris is always under construction — “like life,” she shrugged. At the Pantheon (only saw it from outside), she explained how Voltaire and Rousseau are buried there; I tried to imagine all those minds under one roof. By the time we reached Luxembourg Gardens, clouds were rolling in and people were pulling jackets tighter. The gardens smelled faintly of wet grass and chestnuts roasting from a vendor’s cart. We sat for a minute on a chilly bench before heading back toward Saint-Étienne-du-Mont — my feet hurt but I didn’t really care.