Living Like a Queen - Marie-Antoinette’s World in Paris and Versailles

Arrive in Paris and hop in a taxi/Uber to our fun and beautiful hotel - the Hotel de Jobo, in the heart of the Marais district. At Paris airports, taxis are plentiful but if you'd prefer a private car, we can arrange that for you (at your cost).

This evening, we'll meet in the hotel courtyard to sip champagne, get to know each other and learn a bit about Marie-Antoinette. Then, we'll take a gentle stroll through the Marais and enjoy a delicious dinner at the classic Grande Brasserie.

We'll begin our day, after breakfast, in the Marais with a stroll through the magnificent Place des Vosges and a visit to the Musée Cognacq-Jay. Ernest Cognacq, founder of the world-famous Samaritaine department store, and his wife Marie-Louise Jay, were art lovers. They particularly loved the art of the Age of Enlightenment. Throughout their lives, they gathered more than 1,200 European works, all reflecting the taste in vogue in the 18th century. The museum is now housed in the extraordinary Hôtel Donon, a sixteenth-century townhouse in the heart of the Marais.

We'll have lunch at Camille, a lovely, elevated bistro parisien.

After lunch, we'll have a very special visit to the perfumerie, Buly. Buly was founded in 1803, at a time when there were no fewer than 139 perfumers in Paris. According to the city’s Préfecture, the toiletries trade was the second largest employer in Paris, at the time! Buly is a veritable bastion against the disappearance of France’s beauty heritage. It is inspired by the excellence and virtues of the past while committing to the best values of the present.

The rest of the afternoon is yours to rest, shop or explore.

For dinner, we'll stroll to the lovely Dessance, a modern restaurant housed in a seventeenth-century mansion in the Marais. Even if you're not a vegetarian, their vegetarian-tasting menu is worth a try!

This morning, we visit the Paris gardens. Our first stop is the stunning Bagatelle Gardens constructed in just 64 days, the result of a wager between Marie-Antoinette and her brother-in-law. A private expert guide will join us - she designs the flower arrangements for the American Embassy and is a rose judge at Bagatelle. Lucky for us we’ll be there during the rose season!

Lunch is at the lovely Le Camondo

After lunch, we'll take a short tour of the Parc Monceau, a garden built by Marie-Antoinette’s cousin, before exploring the elegant Nissim de Camondo Museum with its exceptional collection of eighteenth-century furniture and decorative art.

You've earned some free time to relax at the end of the day. In my opinion, there may be no better way to spend a few hours than in a French cafe with a coffee and a pastis, watching the fashionable Parisians go by.

Dinner tonight is something a little different. We are going to a Cheese and Champagne Workshop.

After breakfast, we’ll visit the Chapelle Expiatoire. Called “the most remarkable monument in Paris” by Chateaubriand, La Chapelle Expiatoire is one of those hidden gems that blend history, art, and architecture. It's a quiet oasis not far from the hustle and bustle of the Grands Boulevards. The chapel is dedicated to Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI. It stands at the exact point where the couple was buried after their execution by guillotine in 1793.

We’ll enjoy lunch at the Le Café Lapérouse in the Hotel de la Marine.

After lunch, we’ll visit the Hôtel de la Marine, with its magnificent views and beautifully restored eighteenth-century interiors. Our discussion about the French Revolution will come to life, as we overlook the Place de la Concorde where Marie-Antoinette was executed by guillotine in 1793!

Tonight, you’ll have a well-earned night off. Enjoy dinner at one of the many cafes and restaurants in the Marais or stroll over to the left bank.

This morning, we'll leave for Versailles, one of the greatest achievements in French 17th and 18th-century art. Louis XIV transformed and extended Louis XIII's hunting pavilion when he installed the Court and government there in 1682. A succession of kings continued to embellish the Palace until the French Revolution. It's one of the most majestic, awe-inspiring palaces you'll ever see.

Susan, an expert on Marie-Antoinette and Versailles, will lead us through the king and queen's public rooms.

We'll have lunch at Ore, one of Alain Ducasse's restaurants on the grounds of Versailles.

After lunch, we'll have a special visit to the private apartments of the queen (You know who!) before checking in to our luxurious Trianon Palace Hotel, where we will have some free time to relax and enjoy the beautiful grounds.

This afternoon, we'll truly feel like queens. We'll dress in costumes like those worn by the ladies in Marie-Antoinette's court. Then we'll take tea and pastries like friends of the queen. A photographer will be on hand to document the entire spectacle! Your Instagram accounts will never be the same!

This evening, we'll meet for dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant Le Veranda.

Today we discover the Gardens of Versailles. The gardens cover some 800 hectares of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style perfected here by André Le Nôtre. You'll never complain about tending to your backyard garden again! We'll also visit the fantastic water show.

We will have a light lunch at the Flottille in the gardens.

After lunch, will visit the Petit Trianon, an elegant neo-classical building, redecorated by the queen as her private residence. She was so intent on a ‘private’ retreat she even built moving mirrored walls to prevent the curious from looking in! We'll stroll through her private English garden to the Hameau, her pretend village where courtiers once performed comic operas.

We'll return to the hotel to rest and relax and enjoy the beautiful spa (one spa treatment is included). Queens need to be pampered!

This final evening will feature an extraordinary dinner at Alain Ducasse’s restaurant in the Palace of Versailles.

After a sumptuous and leisurely breakfast, we'll check out and depart back to Paris. Arrangements can be made to get you to the airport or your hotel. You may want to fly home first class - coach may be too much of a letdown for a queen :)