Accompanying Persons' Programme

All registered accompanying persons are invited to join the following two half-day tours:

Please note that tours will depart and return from/to the Palais de Congrés Congress center.

PANORAMIC CITY TOUR OF PARIS
Thursday April 14, 2005
09.30-13.30 hours
Discover the main highlights of Paris!
Visit the bustling Opera Square, the rue de la Paix, the majestic Place Vendôme, the Grands Boulevards, where the major department stores are situated, the Madeleine church and the spectacular Concorde Square with its famous obelisk.
Continue to the Champs Elysées, crowned by the Arch of Triumph with the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. From there, on to the residential Avenue Foch to the Trocadero for a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower before going on to the imposing memorial of Les Invalides with the tombs of Napoleon and his son l'Aiglon. Return to the Right Bank of the Seine via the Alexander III Bridge and continue along the Seine passing the French Academy, the Mint and the Conciergerie - the prison where Marie-Antoinette was held.

The tour then continues on the Left Bank of the Seine and through the Latin Quarter - traditionally the student area of the city. See the historical University of Paris, the Sorbonne, the Luxembourg Gardens of Italian influence, the Pantheon - where many of the great men of France are buried. Then on to the Bastille with the new Opera House and the Notre-Dame, the impressive masterpiece of gothic architecture, impregnated with the history of Paris since its construction in 1163.
Drive through the Carrousel square and see the Louvre Museum with its new glass Pyramid surging gracefully in the middle of eight centuries of architecture.
Coffee/Tea stop included.

TOUR OF MONTMARTRE
Friday April 15, 2005
09.30-13.30 hours
By the end of the 19th century, Montmartre was a Mecca for artists, writers, poets and their disciples, who gathered to sample the cabarets and revues which created Montmartre's reputation. The hill of Montmartre still has its original charm and the village atmosphere remains remarkably intact. There is the old village square, the world famous Place du Tertre, with its cafés and artists where portrait artists and souvenir vendors thrive.

There are spectacular views of the city from various points, most especially from the monumental Sacré-Cæur. Visit one of the liveliest, most colorful and bustling areas of Paris and experience that typically "French Feeling".
Coffee/Tea stop included. There will be free time for shopping.