Even though this website is a very personal creation which is all about ME taking you here and ME taking you there,

I do need to take some days off once in a while and I can only guide a limited number of people on my own.

Whenever possible and appropriate, I will be happy to introduce you to some of my friends/colleagues so that:

1) if possible, you don't come out of this website empty-handed.

2) I can do someone I know a favor.

But, even though I created the legal structure for it, I'm not sure if I want to run a guide-agency, because:

1) I've been there before (and I know about ingratitude and being stabbed in the back).

2) It is time consuming and I don't want the business-man in me to overtake the historian in me.

All I want right now is to be recognized for my qualities (and accepted for my defaults, but that's another story) so that I can be self-sufficient workwise and remain my own boss until I retire (in a dozen years or so). So here's the deal so far:

I happen to know quite a few worthwhile guides who I met on the work-field and who, I believe, have what it takes to inform and entertain you in a proper way and who also, in my opinion, deserve to get a joker card in order to get quality work and avoid being crushed by those ugly platforms I denounce on another page. That's why I will therefore happily connect you with them if I'm not available.

But, as I want to keep the business "small", if you contact me only a couple days before your arrival and I'm away on a long tour with some clients of my own, I won't have the time to try to find someone for you. And my priority is not to provide you with someone else at any cost so that I can charge you for it. That's also the reason why I don't show you a galery of smiling faces with Paul or Juliette telling you that they love their city so much that they just can't wait to show it to you in person and yada yada yada...

And contrarily to some agencies who only use "guides" of English mothertongue (which makes sense, I agree, to get someone who automatically speaks proper English), I will often recommend that you hire someone who, like me, was French at birth but nevertheless aquired from a young age a good command of the English language, because I believe you will have a more authentic experience with a native saying "We, the French, are like this" rather than with having an expat who tells you that "the French are like that". Nevertheless I know quite a few foreign-born local guides (among which some English, Swedish, Brazilian or American-born) who have lived in France for more than half of their lives, who have come to know the French habits and customs perfectly, and whose expertise (and humour) will be highly appreciated by most of you.

The way I see it:

you tell me roughly who you are and what your expectations are and,

if I'm not available, I will try my best to find you the best match.

And if I can't think of anyone (if none of my personal acquaintances is available),

or if the ones available on that day don't know how to perform the tour you're interested in,

I will give you a couple links towards other decent guiding agencies so that you can try to find the best possible plan B.

And whoever I recommend in the end, you can be sure  that

your guide will have the knowledge, the qualification, the experience and the proper language skills.