Bid Paris a hearty bienvenue for today will be filled with the sights and sounds of this most cosmopolitan of cities. Aboard your comfortable motor coach you will drive along the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and to the Cathedrale de Notre Dame on the Île de la Cité the medieval center of Paris embraced by the River Seine. Climb aboard a bateaux mouche for a river tour of the city. As with many medieval cities, Paris grew along the shores of a river and as a result much of the city can be seen from the deck of a slow moving boat. Having already viewed Notre Dame from street level, you will now see it from the river, along with views of other iconic landmarks on the Right and Left Banks. Disembark, and enter the Musee d’Orsay, which houses one of the finest collections of Impressionist art in the world. Tonight enjoy a 2-hour evening illuminations tour. PULLMAN MONTPARNASSE.

A short drive downriver from Paris is the town of Giverny. This picturesque riverine town is a delightful collection of narrow cobbled streets lined by stone houses, ornamented by crawling rose bushes and clinging ivy. Among the sights you will see will be the small Japanese style bridge that spans a lily pond made timeless in the painting aptly named, The Water Lily Pond (1899). In addition to the village and house, you will view some of the small vales and promontories of the surrounding countryside that inspired the artist’s creativity. From the quiet and bucolic you move to the regal ostentatiousness of the Palace Versailles. Once the country chateau of Louis XIV, Versailles has now been subsumed by the ever growing Paris. As with the works of Monet, light, and how it is captured, plays an important role here. Perhaps this is expressed most exuberantly in the Hall of Mirrors, where panels of glass reflect rays of sunshine off of gilded ceilings. Walk amongst the formal gardens that surround grand fountains as you make your way to the intricate masonry of the Marble Court. Return to your hotel in the evening inspired by the play of light. Tonight, attend your first performance of either opera or ballet. PULLMAN MONTPARNASSE.

Put Paris to the rearview mirror again today and head to the more quiescent environs of the Loire Valley which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This lush region occupies the central stretch of the Loire and Cher Rivers which has fed expansive wine vineyards, fruit orchards, fields of asparagus and artichokes, as well as the imaginations of architects. The result of this inspiration are the many grand châteaus that grace the area. The most iconic of these is the Château Chambord, built as a hunting lodge for Francis I, renowned for its many spired roofline in the style of the French renaissance. From the spires of Chambord you move on to the graceful arches of Château Chenonceaux that span the Cher. Another fine example of the French renaissance, the undulating span was designed by architect Philibert d’Orme and the galley that rests upon it by Jean Bullant. Return to Paris this evening, stopping en route at Tours. PULLMAN MONTPARNASSE.

No tour of Paris would be complete without a culinary diversion of some sort, and this morning that is just what you will experience at Les Coulisses du Chef. This enterprise is the creation of Chef Olivier Berte, and here you will prepare and then enjoy a two course meal with fellow travelers. Well fed, you will then take on the Musée Louvre, a monument of a place that houses many of the world’s most treasured works of art. Occupying approximately 14 acres, it housed the collection of Louis XIV when he moved his residence to Versailles in 1682. It has served as a repository for art and antiquities since and now encompasses some eight curatorial departments that display treasures such as the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. This evening you will take in a performance either the Opera Garnier or Opera Bastille. PULLMAN MONTPARNASSE.

Put on your walking shoes this morning for a pedestrian tour of the Montmartre district of Paris. This excursion will include an exploration of the meandering streets in the Artist’s Quarter and the Sacré Coeur Basilica. The name of the hill for which the area is named was originally mons martis Latin for “hill of mars”. Later it came to be called Montmartre, or “mountain of the martyr” in the Gallic language, in commemoration of the martyrdom of Saint Denis in 240 C.E. Here symbols of spirituality sit in close proximity to places of more corporeal orientation, such as the Moulin Rouge. After the tour proper, the afternoon is yours to do with as you wish: Return to Champs-Elysées for shopping, take in the perfumed air of the Jardins Tuileries, take in the sights of the Montparnasse district. This evening you will share food, wine, and stories of your trip with fellow travelers at a farewell dinner. PULLMAN MONTPARNASSE.

Arise this morning and board a motor coach bound for Charles de Gaulle airport and your flight home. Along your route bid Paris adieu or perhaps à bientôt (see you soon). Bon Voyage!