FRANCE - Best of Europe 2014 - page 332

magnifique! They'll pick you up and drop you at your hotel or wherever you choose. Paris
Authentic offers many options (€45/person for 2 people for a 1-hour tour, €33/person for
3 people; €160/couple for a 2-hour tour that includes Montmartre and a bottle of cham-
pagne, 10 percent tip is appropriate, 23 Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, mobile [phone]
19, www.parisauthentic.com , [e-mail] ) . 4 Roues Sous 1 Parapluie, which
translates to “4 wheels under 1 umbrella,” offers comparable tours with candy-colored cars
and drivers dressed in striped shirts and berets. Evening tours last 1.5 hours and cost €90
per person for two, €60 per person if you fit three passengers, and €180 if you want the
whole backseat to yourself (tel. [phone], mobile [phone], www.4roues-
sous-1parapluie.com , [e-mail] )
Pedicab Tours
Experience the City of Light at an escargot's pace with your private chauffeur pedaling
a sleek, human-powered tricycle from TripUp Pedicab Tours. Call ahead, book online, or
flag one down; they usually work until about 22:00 (€40-50/hour, mobile [phone],
www.tripup.fr , [e-mail] ).
▲ Nighttime Bus Tours
Below I've listed two different night tours run by the same parent company (Paris Vision).
Tickets are sold through your hotel (no booking fee, brochures in lobby) or directly at the
Paris Vision office at 214 Rue de Rivoli, across the street from the Tuileries Métro stop.
The nightly Paris Illuminations tour is run by Cityrama and connects all the great illu-
minatedsightsofPariswitha100-minutebustourin12languages.Thedouble-deckerbuses
havehugewindows,butthemostdesirable frontseats aresometimes reservedforcustomers
who've bought tickets for the overrated Moulin Rouge. Left-side seats are better. Visibility
is fine in the rain.
These tours are not for everyone. You'll stampede on with a United Nations of tourists,
get a set of headphones, dial up your language, and listen to a tape-recorded spiel (which
is interesting, but includes an annoyingly bright TV screen and a pitch for the other, more
expensive excursions). Uninspired as it is, the ride provides an entertaining overview of the
city at its floodlit and scenic best. Bring your city map to stay oriented as you go. You're al-
waysonthebus,butthedriverslowsforphotosatviewpoints(€25,kids-€12.50,1.75hours,
departs from 2 Rue des Pyramides at 20:00 Nov-March, at 22:00 April-Oct, reserve one day
in advance, arrive 30 minutes early to wait in line for best seats, Mo: Pyramides, tel. 01 42
60 30 01, www.pariscityvision.com/en/cityrama/paris-illuminations ).
ParisVisionalsooffers ParisIlluminations-ByMinibus, whichareminivannighttours
following a similar route to the bus tours. They will pick you up and drop you off at your
hotel (€55, kids-€40, 2 hours, tel. [phone], www.parisvision.com ) .