Although Paris offers a smorgasbord of choices throughout the popular late spring and summer months, Walking The Spirit Tours of Black Paris advises that traveling in off-season is an ideal opportunity for saving money while combining Afrocentric discovery with lots of Parisian special events.
Tour group at Josephine Baker Square in Paris, France.
• Walking The Spirit Tours offers both walking and private bus tours which allow travelers to enjoy the sites and stories of Black heritage in Paris in all weather. There are many benefits to visiting Paris during low season: discounted airfares, lower prices in all range of hotels, or live like a local by renting a now-affordable apartment, plus no crowds, and an exceptional wealth of cultural offerings.
Paris is an exhilarating crossroads for the best music, concerts and clubs. In the mild month of March, the highly respected Banlieue Bleues jazz, blues and world music festival leads visitors off the beaten track. Held in the northern suburbs of Paris, it is a rare chance to venture beyond the tourist sites and participate in programs and workshops that emphasize interaction with the local, very diverse community.
August, because many shops are closed for holidays, is also considered off-season, and ideal for enjoying the Jazz à la Villette festival, which also takes place in a mixed immigrant 19th district and trendy Canal St. Martin area.
A complementary pairing would be a guided exploration of Paris' Black community. Walking The Spirit Tours' half day Africa In Paris tour connects travelers an inside immersion into north-end Barbès district and introduces them to businesses and community leaders.
October is wine harvest season. In the first week of October, the annual Montmartre street festival joyously honors the fruit of its hillside vineyards. Join the locals at wine-tasting booths, food stalls, for the colorful parade, plus dancing and music in the streets. Just down the hill below the Moulin Rouge, in what was Black Montmartre of the 1920s and 30s, it was champagne that flowed like water in the Black and French owned jazz clubs. A two and a half hour Entertainers tour highlights the influence of Josephine, Bricktop, Bechet and Bullard that made jazz in France as iconic as wine.
The autumn and winter cultural calendar is bursting with new and prestigious art shows, performances, and theatre of French and international origins. To ensure that the rich African American achievement in the arts is part of that dialogue, Walking The Spirit created a Writers, Artists and Intellectuals tour through the literary Latin Quarter and artsy St.Germain-des-Pres that was home and workplace to many expatriates over 150 years.
Though it might be a bit chilly, an enlightening morning of learning opens the appetite to indulge in French comfort foods of hearty stews, saucy meats, and flavorful vegetable soups in nearby cafés or bistros that was frequented by an illustrious expatriate.
And, while December dazzles with Christmas markets, gorgeous street and window decorations, and exotic French-style Christmas and New Years events, one of the best reasons for a winter jaunt to Paris comes at the end of January. Mega city-wide sales happen only twice a year (also end July) by government decree, and money saved on airfare and hotels are rewarded with steals on designer wear, ready-to-wear and home furnishings. If scheduled after the Spirit of Black Paris bus tours, the air-conditioned vehicle drops off cool and energized travelers near a shopping area of their choice.
Walking The Spirit Tours pioneered the first Black heritage tours in Paris in 1994. CEO and Founder Julia Browne's goal is to connect travelers of all backgrounds and ages to the rich Black history and presence in Paris. The company offers walking and private bus tours as well as customized itineraries that blend the best of Afrocentric Paris with the discovery of Parisian events and activities. As a France Specialist, Walking The Spirit Tours now offers full travel planning and escorts trips to Richard Wright's Normandy, Josephine Baker's south France, and James Baldwin's Nice. They are distributors of the recently released DVD "When African Americans Came To Paris".
For more details about booking a tour: Visit www.walkingthespirit.com
For more details about the DVD "When African Americans Came To Paris": Visit www.africanamericansinparis.com
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