They Came to Paris: Literature 1910–1940

It is 1910 in Paris, and Coco Chanel has just opened a shop selling stylish, lightweight hats near Place Vendôme. A little farther down the Seine, visitors to the Paris Motor Show can admire the new neon lights on display. Up the hill in Montmartre and across the river in Montparnasse, a revolution is underway. Pablo Picasso has already painted (although not yet publicly exhibited) his shocking, angular Demoiselles d’Avignon. His friend Guillaume Apollinaire is working on a collection of “cubist” poems, Alcools, that will pave the way for generations of European and American poets looking for new modes of expression.

Step into this world at once foreign and familiar. On this journey, you’ll study the role Paris played in the creative explosion that took place before, during, and after World War I. See firsthand how the art created and the ideas formed here intensified and accelerated a profound cultural shift we still feel one hundred years later.

Enjoy guided walks with a modernism expert
Your local guide Samuél, a novelist and scholar of 20th-century European history, will show you the original Shakespeare and Company and conjure up the atmosphere of Montmartre before Instagram took over. He’ll tell you stories of larger-than-life figures like Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Kiki de Montparnasse, and how they tried to make sense of a time that was exhilarating and glamorous, but also desperate and confusing.

See less touristy art and architecture
We love the Haussmann-style apartment blocks that give Paris its distinct look. But there’s so much more! Stroll down off-the-radar streets dedicated to modern architecture and get an in-depth look at the buildings of pioneering urban planner Le Corbusier on guided visits with an architecture specialist. At Paris’s Musée d’Art Moderne, immerse yourself in Raoul Dufy’s The Spirit of Electricity, one of the world’s largest paintings and a work that truly captures the energy of the interwar years.

Savour great meals and great conversation
Our tours leave plenty of time to dig into the food and wine that make France famous, whether at group meals at some of our favourite restaurants or on your own. Our truly hands-on cooking class with Frédéric is always a highlight. And on this tour, get an opportunity to talk books, culture and more over a glass of wine in a salon with Samuél and fellow writer John Baxter.

Get the benefits of our small groups, always
You may have seen tours of 35 or 40 people advertised as “small group.” Or even been on one of these big-bus experiences. Our tours are truly small, with a cap of 16. This means lots of face time with your guides and the chance to visit sites and restaurants that are off-limits to larger tour groups.

 

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway; selected poetry by Guillaume Apollinaire and other 20th-century writers