Walk through the history of Paris through a contextual tour

I love walking tours. Longtime readers know that I always recommend the first thing to do when you’re in town. It doesn’t matter what type you do. Food, history, art – anything! Just do something. It’s an amazing way to learn about your destination, get your bearings, and chat about city life with locals. (You can also ask your local guide for tips on restaurants, attractions, or how to navigate the city! Win-win!)

I have been walking since my first backpacking trip in 2006 when I joined a free walking tour from a hostel around Prague. I was fascinated, and over the years I took part in hundreds of tours run by dozens of companies. There are tons of walking tour companies out there, but one of my favorites is Context Travel.

Context was founded in 2003 and I have been using and recommending them since 2010 when I first stumbled upon one of their tours in Rome. I walked around the Vatican with an art historian and learned not only about the Vatican itself but also the stories behind art. Since then I have toured with them numerous times.

What has always set Context apart is that instead of using educated laypeople as guides, we use experts in their fields (people with Masters or PhD level degrees!) to guide you. This way you get someone who really knows what they’re talking about. You get someone who can share little details that only an expert in the field would know.

During a recent trip to Paris, I participated in Context’s Paris World War II History Tour. now i know many About Paris. I’ve been visiting there for 15 years, lived there for a short period of time, done probably over 50 tours, and read so many books about the city that I sometimes feel like I’m studying for a degree in Paris history.

But my interest in the city is mainly based on the 1920s (I love the Jazz Age!) and the Middle Ages. I don’t know much about World War II Paris. Of course. i know portion I was excited to join this tour to learn about an important period in recent Parisian history, as I have learned a lot in general academics but not much in the specifics.

The tour travels from St. Germain through the Luxembourg Gardens, through the Latin Quarter to Marias and ends at the Hotel de Ville. It records the beginning of the Nazi occupation, daily life at the time, the resistance movement, what happened to the Jews, and finally liberation. (It takes approximately 3 hours.)

As I mentioned earlier, what makes Context Travel special is their professional guides and my guide Gil is no exception. He has been in France for almost 20 years, has degrees in politics and literature, and has worked as a guide for over 10 years. (memo: There are several guides who run these tours and they are all experts 😉 He knew all kinds of arcane details and brought an iPad full of photos and first-hand materials.

We began discussing how German troops entered Paris so quickly in Saint-Germain and how life initially remained relatively the same after they took power. Local Parisians continued their normal lives (albeit with restrictions). France fell so quickly that the fighting never reached Paris, so the city was never damaged.

As we walked, we stopped at buildings that were used during the war (the current Mandarin Oriental Hotel was the Gestapo headquarters…creepy) and discussed how the resistance eventually formed and operated in the city. As we walked, the tour progressed in time, Gil talked about the collaborators, the ultimate elimination of the Jews, and how the French military’s victory in Africa led to the city’s oppression. Finally we arrived at the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) and reached the grand finale in August 1944, when Parisians and resistance fighters liberated the city from Nazi rule. His portraits and first-hand documentation helped him paint a picture of life and resistance in Paris during World War II. I left feeling like I had learned a lot.

This is why I do context travel. You get really fine details and facts and in-depth analysis. There are many walking tour companies out there and I recommend a wide variety. But Context has always stood out for the quality of its tour leaders. You’re looking for someone with deep knowledge of the subject, not a script-trained guide. One of my favorite tours was walking down New York’s famous 42nd Street with an award-winning architect. From architects to historians, artists and chefs, the guides here are trained professionals, a rarity.

Context is perfect for travelers who want to dive deeper into a specific topic or place. Whether you take a tour of the Louvre or a neighborhood walking tour like this one, you’ll get a level of detail you won’t find on other tours. After all, a tour that lasts up to three hours packs a lot of information. Additionally, full-day and half-day tours are available, as well as day trips outside Paris.

It’s been a while since I last toured with them, and I was really happy to see that the quality I liked was still there. Context mainly operates private tours. This means it’s perfect for people looking for a private tour or family groups, but there’s also a range of tours you can join with an existing group. And if you want to do your own thing, there are also tons of audio tours to choose from. Operating in over 70 cities, we cover everything from all the famous places you want to see to unique off-the-beaten-path locations.

I’ve loved it since I started using it and over the past few years they’ve expanded a lot so I’d like to highlight Context Travel again as a company to use on my next trip. Be sure to consider it for your next trip.

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