Kimkim Trip Reviews for France

Josée secured us accommodations in a boutique hotel where I’d stayed before, Villa des Artistes in the 6th arrondissement. She had offered other, fancier places since this was an anniversary trip, but we opted for this 3-star hotel since we planned to have many outings throughout our stay and wanted to save some money for special dinners and other activities. The hotel was just as I remembered: charming, clean, and comfortable, with a supremely helpful front-desk staff, generous continental breakfast. When we arrived in France, our friendly driver, Michael, met us at the airport and brought us to the hotel, where we were delighted to be able to check in early after our red-eye flight. We immediately went out to eat delicious crêpes at La Crêperie de Josselin on a nearby side street of Rue Montparnasse, which I believe is part of what is known as “Le Petit Bréton” of Paris.

We took a cab to the meeting site to go to La Tour Eiffel. Our guide met the small group scheduled to visit the tower, and after making our way through two rounds of security checks, we went all the way to the top! The views were spectacular, and the audio guide (while a bit hokey!) helped us orient ourselves to the city. We are grateful that Josée scheduled this as our first formal experience of the trip—it was the perfect start! We decided to walk back to our hotel so that we could explore the city on foot. This was a choice we made several times throughout our stay in Paris, carrying umbrellas with us in case of rain. On this first night, we did get caught in a cloudburst just before reaching our hotel, but we scurried into a lovely restaurant, Le Dôme, where we enjoyed a beautiful seafood platter paired with excellent wine. (As an aside, although the forecast was gloomy for the 6 days we were in France, we felt very lucky that this was the only time we got caught in the rain. Quelle bonne chance!)

The next morning after a lovely breakfast in the small outside courtyard of the hotel, our guide, Agathe, met us at our hotel to take us by metro for a visit to Sainte Chapelle, La Conciergerie, and the surrounding area. She was warm, knowledgeable, and sensitive, teaching us a great deal about the sites we visited. Sainte Chapelle was breathtakingly beautiful, and we were impressed by the multimedia guides that let us see how Paris (and Île de la Cité, in particular) changed and grew over time. Agathe was careful to point out key features of the architecture, and she sought out more information when we posed questions, seeking specific bible stories in the stained-glass windows. As an aside, Agathe was also able to provide some more recent Parisian history when we encountered police blockades in several areas. She explained that this day of our visit, October 17, was the anniversary of the terrible Paris Massacre of 1961, and she provided context for us, also pointing out street art depicting the late Tunisian-French attorney and feminist heroine Gisèle Halimi, and then connecting her legacy to the bravery of Gisèle Pelicot, the survivor at the heart of the current devastating rape trial. As we walked to La Conciergerie, we stopped to buy cappuccinos at Les Deux Palais, and as we enjoyed them, Agathe oriented us to the sites we’d seen on the video in Sainte Chapelle, pointing out places on the Seine and drawing our attention to various statues. I was very glad we got to go into La Conciergerie, which had been unexpectedly closed the last time I was in Paris. Once again, we were impressed by the multimedia tools at this historic site, which let us see what the interior of the building (including the great hall and the kitchens, in addition to the holding cells) looked like centuries ago. We were also glad to see a beautiful exhibit of artwork from Benin, where we lingered a bit before heading out. Since we’d stayed a bit longer than expected at La Conciergerie, we said goodbye to Agathe and headed out on our own to the marché aux fleurs, where we made a few purchases before going to the viewing stand outside Notre Dame. It’s a shame we couldn’t go inside since construction is still underway, but we decided that’s just another reason to return to Paris again someday! Then, we made our way to Shakespeare & Co., where we happily browsed the shelves, bought a small fraction of the many books we wanted to buy due to luggage space. We walked along the Seine, stopping at a street vendor to buy an antique print, and then had an excellent lunch on the terrace of Les Antiquaires.

We walked to Musée d’Orsay. Neither of us had ever been there, and it is now one of our favorite places on Earth! The collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist work is just astounding, and the audio guide was user-friendly and very enjoyable. We learned so much about familiar art and were thrilled to discover new artists. We could’ve spent many days there, happily exploring the galleries and marveling at the architecture itself. We will certainly return! And next time we will certainly add Musée de l'Orangerie to our agenda.

We walked to the launching site for our dinner cruise on the Seine. This was a beautiful, romantic night, and the food and wine were delicious. We loved taking in the sites of the city all lit up, and the servers were gracious and eager to make sure we had fun.

On Saturday we started with a gourmet food tour of Paris. We skipped breakfast and met our guide at the meeting site. Carole was a delight! Passionate about slow food, cooking, and food history, she shared a tremendous amount of knowledge and the many images she had collected on her iPad enhanced the history she shared. She showed us around various kitchenware shops, specialty food stores, and brasseries as we wended our way to Rue de Nil, where she planned to make food purchases. We worked up an appetite and were fairly desperate for coffee, having misunderstood that we would not be eating throughout the tour, but purchasing items to eat all together at lunchtime. About an hour into our tour, Carole did lead us to a good coffee shop where we bought cappuccinos, and we had the best croissants we’d ever had before going to other shops, where she bought a baguette, cheeses, butter, and meats to enjoy as a lunch paired with wine. In retrospect, we wished we’d personally bought fresh fruits, mustards, cornichons/gherkins, and olives to add to the meal, but we weren’t sure if that would have been OK. Also, my husband doesn’t drink alcohol, and his drink options were limited at the restaurant where we had our meal, but these issues were only minor detractions from an otherwise wonderful experience with an expert guide.

I wish I could give a whole constellations of stars to this experience, never mind 5. Before our photographer, Sabine, met us at the hotel, we stopped at a florist across the street, Bouquets Montparnasse. The shopkeeper made up a bouquet for me and a boutonniere for my husband on the spot! Then, we got dressed and our driver, Michael, picked us up with Sabine and we went off to Île de la Cité for our photo shoot and picnic. I hardly know how to express my gratitude to Sabine for her beautiful work. She was professional, patient, accommodating, generous, and above all, an artist in all she did for us that afternoon. The nearly 300 photos she took have given us a priceless record of our milestone anniversary, and they will be precious heirlooms for our family. After taking photos on two bridges, and then photographing our vow renewal, including a handfasting ritual, she took care to photograph various special details—the headpiece my late-mother-in-law made that I wore in her honor, our rings, the handfasting cord, etc.—and I think she stayed much longer than she’d planned. She left us to enjoy our picnic and then returned to bring us to our driver and to pick up the picnic items for the company that set up the meal. We are so very, very appreciative of her time and talents and hope you will convey our thanks to her. She truly went above and beyond, and we could not be happier with the photographs. And, I must also say that the picnic was a delight! In some ways it was an encore of the meal we had with Carole, but it also included a beautiful bouquet, fresh fruit, a lovely Normandy cider for my husband, and tasty desserts. As we enjoyed our meal and reflected on the vows we’d shared, we took time to call our family, and the entire experience left us feeling profoundly happy and grateful. Additional: After our driver brought us back to our hotel, we packed everything so that we would be ready to leave Paris the next day, and then we decided to take the advice of a cab driver we’d met earlier in the week and make our way to the Latin Quarter for some jazz music. I’d mentioned to him that I wanted to find a jazz club for our last night in Paris, and he immediately recommended Le Caveau de la Huchette. So, we walked there from our hotel, stood in a line that wrapped round the corner to enter, and ended up having one of the most fun nights out of our lives! The music was amazing, the energy of the crowd joyful and exuberant, and we even managed to score some seats in the packed room. We wished we could’ve stayed longer until the place shut down at 2 a.m., but we decided to head back to our hotel at midnight since we had to be up and ready to leave for the airport the next morning. Day 6 As it turned out, we had one more delight in store. We got up early enough to take our coffee and breakfast from the hotel to go, and we walked to Le Jardin du Luxembourg for a sunrise breakfast just as the park opened at 8 a.m.. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. I’d been sad at the prospect of throwing away the flowers from our vow renewal, and then I was inspired to bring them to our little breakfast picnic. As we left the park, we passed by a statue of George Sand, and we decided to leave toss the bouquets at the base, recalling her famous words, “Il n’y a qu’un bonheur dans la vie, c’est d’aimer et d’être aimé,” (“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”)

On our last full day in Paris, we went to Montmartre, a part of the city we’d never visited. (We ended up regretting taking a cab since several Seine River crossings were closed due to a road race, but we made it just in time after a half-hour drive that should’ve taken much less time.) We are so grateful that Josée scheduled this for our final morning—the juxtaposition of this part of the city with the other areas we’d been in was just incredible. Our tour guide, Florencia, was a last-minute substitute since the person who was supposed to be our guide had to cancel due to a family emergency. Florencia was nervous since this was the first-ever tour she’d led independently, but she did a wonderful job! She was knowledgeable, passionate about history, and very warm and friendly. We had just rewatched the film Amelie on the big screen a month or so ago in our hometown, so it was a special treat to see sites from that movie, and we were delighted to be introduced to the singer Dalida and her story—we’ve been listening to her music ever since! We made all sorts of connections between the art we’d seen at Musée d’Orsay and the sites we saw in Monmartre, and it was quite special to walk up to Sacré Cœur and take in the view of the city from the hill. After climbing down the long steps from Sacré Cœur, Florencia led us to a metro stop, and we went back to our hotel to get ready for our vow renewal/photo shoot, the raison d’être of our anniversary trip.

After our tour, we went window shopping at the Palais Royale before making our way to the Louvre. We asked security where to go with our “skip the line” passes and were unfortunately told that there is no such thing as “skip the line,” and that this is a marketing label with no practical impact. So, we waited in line for nearly an hour including security checks, and then found our way to the audio-guide pickup site. Unlike the audio-guide devices at Musee d’Orsay, we found the ones at the Louvre to be very difficult to use, and we ended up returning them early and just fending for ourselves. This was a fine choice! Everywhere we looked there was something wonderful to see, and we devised a thematic approach to our wanderings, deciding to look for depictions of Mary Magdalene throughout the museum since we had plans to visit La Madeleine that evening. We stayed until the museum closed, and then went back to our hotel to quickly dress up for our nighttime plans. (As an aside, we had no KimKim items on our agenda for that evening, so I had looked for events ahead of time and bought tickets to a classical music concert at La Madeleine. We took a cab to the venue, where we were astounded by the beauty of the church and excited to see more artwork, not to mention relics, of Mary Magdalene. The concert was wonderful! Les Violons de France played Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major, and Schubert’s Ave Maria, accompanied by a soprano. The combination of the gorgeous music and the exquisite setting made for a night we will never forget. We walked back to our hotel even though it was a bit chilly and drizzly, stopping for a warming meal of boeuf bourguignon at a small bistro to end a long, jam-packed, beautiful day.)

This wasn't skip a line. I want a refund. A complete scam, I should have just used the Paris transit.

Supprisingly nice hotel that at one time must have been a grand chateau. The rooms were odd but added to the character of the place. Right in the middle of center city Bordeaux. Pleasant staff. Good breakfast. Tons of restaurants and bars filled with people that enjoyed the area as much as we did.

I loved Marseille I loved the action around the Harbor area and especially the wonderful seafood restaurants. Our tour guide was terrific. Made us feel at home and comfortable with the city. Shared not only the facts of the area but also his personal experiences in Marseille

The staff were welcoming, attentive and friendly and our twin room with city views was spacious and comfortable. The art deco style through out the hotel was charming and it is conveniently located within walking distance of shops, cafes and the waterfront precinct.

Great hotel for a family, it a good location, close to the metro. Nice breakfast in the morning. The coffee and snacks in the afternoon were also handy!

We could not have loved this hotel more, the room was very comfortable and spacious. The hotel staff were so accommodating and friendly. The homemade breakfast, pastries, jams and quiche were such a treat!

This hotel is beautiful, newly renovated and clean. The beds were comfortable, the bathrooms were crowded, but nice. The breakfast was a challenge, it was set up as a continental breakfast buffet, but they were always out of plates, cups and coffee mugs. The eggs were also undercooked.

We only had one night here, but the hotel is beautiful, the rooms are a little tight, but well appointed and comfortable. The breakfast was so good though! The staff was really friendly and helpful.

This hotel is in a convenient location to the underground and had very helpful staff. The breakfast was very crowded and did not have many options. Hard boiled eggs, yogurt, toast and cereal. The hotel is older so the rooms are smaller, but suited our needs while we were there.

We bought tickets for this, but the busses didn't come to any of the stops after we had waiting for 20+ minutes at a couple of stops. We found it faster to just walk between the sites we wanted to see. We were never able to use our tickets and 2 weeks later are still waiting to hear back regarding a refund. I wouldn't recommend this tour option

We had such a great day with Dury, we learnt a lot and made some delicious food!

We were unfortunately late to start this tour as we had a cooking class prior that ran a little long. Despite us being late, our guide took the time to provide us with a fun, action packed and informative tour that our 12 + 9 year old daughters really enjoyed and were very engaged in!

It was a beautiful way to see parts of the city and learn more about Paris. The tour guide was not super engaging and there were long periods of just sitting and taking in the scenery. It would have been nice to hear more about Paris.

Adorable little town with very friendly people! We loved Bayeux and the shops, restaurants and history.

Love this day! We didn't even have Mont-Saint Michel on our list of experiences we were seeking, our agent suggested and booked this for us and we were sure happy she did!

Our guide Lucy was incredible, she is a talented and animated storyteller who can really take you back in time through the history of the Tower. If you go, ask for Lucy!!

Our guide was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed our tour with her. We had hoped to see a few other beaches so a more detailed description of what each tour offers would have been helpful as we would have selected a different tour. We had specifically requested to see Juno beach through KimKim, but were advised that we could just tell this to our guide and they would adjust the tour. This is a group tour so the guide was unable to accommodate and changes to the tour itinerary (understandable)

Our whole family enjoyed this, our 9+12 year old daughters are still singing the songs around the house! Great performance

The tour itself was really cool, although we wish we would have had more time. The busses ran a tight schedule, so we couldn't enjoy the entire tour at our own pace.

Our guide was knowledgeable and adaptable. She had prepared the group that the tour experience would change depending on the crowds and she was able to navigate us around some very busy streets to see some unique aspects of the Changing of the Guard.

Cool idea and very friendly staff but very expensive for what you get. The food was ok, but nothing really unique. The tea is located in a basement so you can't enjoy any of London's scenery... We found an afternoon tea beside Tower Bridge that was better quality and price with a wonderful view!

Our guide, Oscar, was excellent! he really taught us a lot about borough market and some cool history of London. He was excellent with our kids and kept them laughing and entertained for a couple of hours as we strolled through the market and tasted some rather delicious doughnuts!

It was a decent hotel and very well located close to town.

Staff was amazing and very helpful. Hotel located right in the middle of everything.

Thomas was a great host and prepared a nice 4 course meal. Had a great time with him. We were surprised just as he was that we never got the menu ahead of time.

Radames was a great tour guide, very personable and knew his stuff.

Florence was the absolute best guide.

Robin was a great and very thorough guide.

We were told it included a city tour and it never happened.

The rooms are a bit small if you get a studio. We opted for a 1 bedroom which was just perfect for us. Best part of this hotel was it's location in the city. We thought it would be difficult to be outside the city center, but with the tram being so close, it was not a problem at all! We did not have breakfast at the hotel. It looked wonderful, but we opted to grab something from the local bakery. There were many good restaurants in the area.

The tour to the Pyla sand dunes and Arcachon oysters was really great. Our guide, Kyle, who was Brazilian, was knowledgeable and engaging, making the experience delightful despite some unfortunate weather. Although I'm not a huge seafood fan, the tour itself was incredibly well-organized and worth the trip.

The full private day of exploration in Dordogne and Sarlat was a fantastic experience. We had a great guide, Rudy, who took us to the West Coast and a quaint village. He was charming and knowledgeable, enhancing our trip significantly as we explored the beautiful area. Having a guide made the long day far more insightful and enjoyable.

The visit to La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux was interesting but a bit too much. We stayed for about an hour and enjoyed the wine tastings and the beautifully presented exhibits, but it exceeded our level of interest quite quickly.

This Hotel is amazing the staff were all wonderful providing my needs during my stay. The lady named, Omy kept me updated with what was going on in the area, and she worked hard keeping customer service up to par. Francis and Aman were also awesome, they were both very helpful explaining every details that I did not understand. Highly recommended!

The only golf course that is worth playing is the Le National Albatross Course. However, this golf course need to hire a Marshall to keep the pace of play going. I was following a slow golfers for both of my rounds here, and not fun, when a fast golfer like me had to wait 5 to 10 minutes on every hole. So, I would suggest to let your travel agent know to extend the time to at least 30 to 50 minutes pick up time with your driver after 4 hours if you decide to play golf at Le National Golf Course.

I have no comment on this tour because the tour guide and Eiffel Tower is amazing!

The tour guide was amazing, no other comments.

I love the fact that I did not have to drive the Vintage Car, because I have the knowledgeable driver to drive for me, and I just enjoy the sceneries, and take photos.

I did not have a good experienced on this one because, I went to the right boat, but the lady in front (who were by the entrance) told me that I am on the wrong boat, so I ran to the other boat. But the other boat staff told me to go back to the boat where I came from, which was the right boat to begin with....

Little bit far from town, but otherwise a great place to stay. Very basic, but friendly and kind staff.

We really liked this hotel. Kind staff and good breakfast with a great location. Close to town center maybe two blocks away and also very close to the train station which is super convenient.

It’s located on the ridge between two very different beaches. The old area of Antibes is maybe half of my other way, but it’s a beautiful walk. The staff is very kind and helpful and made all the amenities available essentially at all times. The room we had was clean and neat with a typically strange European set up to the room, but we certainly had everything we needed, and it was a great place to stay!

Really loved this hotel. It’s a small boutique hotel and the staff is very friendly and kind. Breakfast is very good and nice authentic French food very simple as well. The staff are very friendly and kind and helpful. All of them do you speak English but they’re also patient enough to help with someone trying to speak French. The location is really amazing. It is a short walk from the cathedral at Notre Dame or the Louvre museum. We also walked to the Eiffel Tower from here, which is just under a mile I think. Overall wonderful experience.

Location was excellent, as was the breakfast

Location and view was perfect

Room was comfortable, clean and quiet

Exceeded all our expectations

Guide was excellent. Wish we had more time to see the Casino area.

Guide was excellent

Amazing but weather was a challenge

Guide was extremely knowledgeable and enjoyable to be with

Weather was terrible. Did not seem well planned.

Guide was excellent and took the time to drive to our hotel the next day after we left glasses in his van

Guide was excellent

Guide was excellent

Guide was excellent

Guide was excellent

So cute and cozy, beautifully decorated. Great location! Very clean room. Only docked one star due to having to carry luggage up and down the staircase due to small and slow elevator.

Lots of space, big bathroom with great water pressure. Comfortable bed. Friendly staff. Great location within walking distance to everything! Docked one star because the shower did not have a door or curtain and the whole floor of the bathroom would get soaked every time we took a shower.

Why is this hotel rated 4 stars? Our first room was handicap accessible so no door nor curtain for shower. Entire floor of bathroom would get wet after each shower. Also the floor to ceiling window had a massive crack in it and the front desk person laughed about the door to the room (also glass) not being easy to lock. We requested a move, which they accommodated the second day of our stay. The new room was beat up and not very clean (dried coffee was in the cups, poop stains in toilet). At check out we were yelled at by the front desk for calling Kim Kim to complain about the accommodations and were scolded and told we should have just told the front desk directly. We did that, which was why we were moved, however thought Kim Kim tram should know if this hotel was a partner of theirs. Aside from all of that, this hotel was not centrally located and about 15-20 min minimum walk to the city center. Would have preferred to stay closer to where everything was versus off beaten path.

The hotel itself was beautiful, as were the main lobby and restaurant spaces, however the room was terrible. The bed was like sleeping on a rock, so uncomfortable that we woke up every morning with back and neck pain. Also there was what looked like a gravestone right out of our window so that was extremely unsettling and maybe too “historic” for us. You could clearly hear your upstairs neighbors moving around. Location was ok, you could walk 10 minutes and see the Notre Dame cathedral as well as the Roman Ruins. The one thing that we did not like about location was when we wanted to go elsewhere outside of old town Lyon, we needed to get Ubers or have multiple train transfers.

Chris was our tour guide. He was a historian and knew fun and interesting facts about London. He was able to keep out teens interested too! Fun experience!

Our guide, Alex, we knowledgeable and entertaining. He relied on our group to determine the trajectory of our tour - within the general parameters set by the tour company - and made our day fee “custom-designed”.

Our tour guide, Emily, was wonderful! She was very knowledgeable and gave us very interesting information about the area and its history. We loved it!

Our tour guide was very good! She was efficient in the presentation of the things we wanted to see and I loved all the knowledge she shared about the art and the museum overall. We really enjoyed our time with her.

We were nervous about this as we did not want to have "touristy" experience and the meal and the experience in the boat were amazing. One of our most memorable dinners and experience in Paris!

Loved our chef Gil! We had a great time with him and it was an excellent way to spend time in Provence. We highly recommend this!

Loved the time spent with Kelly. He was so knowledgeable and fun! Would do it again!!