ParisTilton

Each tour has a different flavor, depending on the group and the time of year, but they are all aimed at creative women who enjoy fashion and who like the company of kindred creative spirits.

We time of the tours to coincide with exhibits at the Musee de la Textile et de la Mode (Museum of Textiles and Fashion) at the Louvre. Past exhibitions include Balenciaga, Christian La Croix, Sonia Rykiel and Madeleine Vionnet.

The groups are small, 8 to 14. Come with a friend or group of friends, or come alone and make new friends. Spouses are welcome too. They are on their own during the day, but are included in all group meals and receive metro and museum passes.

Mary from Oregon says this about her Paris experience:"I love traveling with Marcy. I'd go anywhere she was willing to take me. She's organized, attentive, talented and FUN FUN FUN. She knows so much about Paris and is very generous in sharing her knowledge. She has been able to arrange wonderful small studio visits, leads us to great shops and neighborhoods. Her palate is wonderful so the food she discovers is fabulous. Her sister, Katharine, is now her partner and they are an incredible team. Lots of laughs. Lots of interesting inspiring side trips. I've been twice. great group dynamics, too. I recommend travel with Paris Tiltons with wholehearted enthusiasm. All ages, too."

Logistics & Fun
Included in the tour price

Hotel accommodations for 8 nights in a small luxury four-star hotel on the Right Bank in the heart of old Paris, checking in on Sunday, November 14, checking out on Monday, November 22, 2010.
Our charming family run hotel has a small intimate bar with light food, a great place to gather in the evening.
Delicious breakfasts in the lovely breakfast room.
Admission to all group venues, presentations, tours and meals listed as included.
Meals included are: breakfast each day, welcoming lunch, celebration dinner.
3-day museum pass. The Louvre is walking distance from the hotel, and there are opportunities to visit museums throughout the week.
Metro and bus pass.
Transportation coming to and from the airport. Details provided upon registration.
Visit to the Musee de la Mode et du Textile at the Louvre, to see the current exhibition.
Visit to the Fondation Yves St. Laurent museum located in the famous St. Laurent building. (depending on availability)
Visit to a famous vintage couture shop.
Explore the Marais and visit a unique designer boutique and studio.
Spend a day exploring our favorite places on the Left Bank.
Fabric and button shopping in the Paris fabric district and at boutiques featuring fabric from haute couture collections.
Visits to exquisite ‘merceries’ (French notions shops), tucked-away shops and inviting passages.
Visit to a small flea market (vintage buttons) and ‘Marche Biologique’ --- organic market on Sunday morning.
Welcoming lunch. An exceptional celebration dinner.
Dining and conversation in cafes and restaurants ranging from well known to small out of the way spots.
All this and more, in discovering the beauty and magic of Paris in the company of kindred spirits.
Impromptu visits: In November 2010 we saw an amazing clothing exhibition that rivaled the Vionnet show and explored a large French sewing/craft expo.

Le Shopping: Shopping for fabric and buttons in Paris.
SHOPPING is literally everywhere in Paris. French women sew, knit, embroider and if they don't they have a dressmaker. Sewing supplies are amazing in Paris. Every neighborhood has a mercerie (notions shop), we will visit some of the best. Fabric choices range from inexpensive remnants to fabric from current couture collections. The selection of buttons, ribbons, yarn and trims will make your mouth water.

Come to add a Parisian touch to your wardrobe and your stash, and to soak in the atmosphere of museums, food and cafe life.

A boat ride on the Seine gives an orientation of the city and helps with arrival day jet lag.

Fabric shopping: here in an elegant fabric shop that was the favorite of sewing maven Bobbie Carr.

We visit notions shops (merceries) in different parts of Paris. Here, in a millinery supply shop we get an impromptu lesson on 'draping' a hat from one of the sales associates.....hatmaking is his metier.

A visit to the fabulous new Issey Miyake store.

Barb chooses vintage buttons at the Sunday flea market

Dinner in a little cafe just a short walk from our hotel is the perfect way to end the day.

We visit an exquisite shop in the Palais Royale to see vintage couture and get a lesson on the history of the little black dress.

Amazing visit to a house that makes artificial flowers for couture to see the process which has been used since the 1700's. Here the silk petals are hand dyed.

We visit an atelier/showroom in the Marais to see the collection, visit the design studio and here, witness a model being fitted for an upcoming fashion show. The seamstress/fitter was doing impeccable work and paid absolutely NO attention to us, was totally focused on her task at hand.

From Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik (Random House)
"... is lined with wonderful shops; butchers with fat-wrapped noisettes d'agneau and bakers with various-sized Tarte Tatin, all caramel-colored, and childrens clothing stores, their windows filled with violet coats for small girls... . The rue Cler... is one of the nicest shopping and marche' streets in Paris, and it acts as a heart for the neighborhood ... . Then, by four o'clock, violet twilight falling, watching that sky that looks as though it were ready to snow though it never does, we get the bus back home. Going home, it goes down Saint-Dominique, gently, formally, perfectly curving across the Left Bank. I looked up the rue Jean Nicot and could see lights twinkling, like fireflies, right across the Seine, filling the trees. The hardest thing to convey is how lovely it all is and how that loveliness seems all you need...In that moment on a December at four o'clock when you're walking from the bus stop to the rue Saint Dominique and the lights are twinkling across the river... you feel as if you've escaped."

Registration Details

Contact Info
Marcy or Katherine Tilton
541-592-2969
marcy@marcytilton.com
nandiniishaya@yahoo.com