Arrive Hotel Lotti, 7 rue de Castiglione, F-75001 Paris
Tel: 33 1 42603734, fax: 33 1 40159356

Meet for Susan Taylor Leduc’s lecture ‘Jefferson’s Paris and Napoleon’s style’ followed by a walking tour of the Left Bank focusing on the places Jefferson frequented including the Hotel de Salm, that inspired changes in Monticello, and the newly installed statue of Jefferson. Followed by drinks and dinner.

Morning excursion to Versailles, via the Bois de Boulogne where Jefferson took daily walks in the spring of 1786. At Versailles, visit, as Jefferson did, Marie-Antoinette’s Le Petit Trianon, Jardin Anglais and Hameau, which he found interesting even though he was not an admirer of Marie Antoinette.

Visit the Foreign Affairs office, now the Municipal Library but little changed. Jefferson told William Short it was the “only bureau” to which the U.S. minister ordinarily could “apply with propriety or without offence.”

After lunch, we will continue via Marly, the estate where Jefferson saw the famous Marly horse sculptures which are now in the Louvre, to visit the Désert de Retz, a little known park containing fantastic follies including a house in the form of a giant, rustic, classical column, which Jefferson visited with Maria Cosway and used as inspiration for the Rotunda at the University of Virginia.

Dinner independently

Leave for a private visit to the Hotel de Bourrienne.
Continue to Passy, once a village outside Paris on the road to Versailles, to see where Benjamin Franklin lived for nine years, the house of his friend Mme Helvetius, and the John Adams’ House.
On to Poissy to visit the country house, Villa Savoye,
the masterpiece of LeCorbusier and one of the most famous houses of the modern movement in architecture.

Lunch in the town overlooking the Seine at Restaurant Bon Vivant.
Continue by coach to the Chateau de la Roche-Guyon in Normandy, the home of the Rochefoucauld family, leaders of the Enlightenment movement in France. Jefferson visited this elegant estate periodically to explore the experimental gardens and to enjoy the house parties of philosophers and liberal nobles.

Dinner independently in Paris

Leave to visit the Chateau de Bagatelle, the folie built on a bet for Marie Antoinette. Continue to Malmaison , the 17th century estate bought by Napoleon’s Josephine for her private retreat. The interiors will illustrate the taste of the Napoleonic era – canopied beds, the campaign room, the vaulted and frescoed library, the salon de Musique, her famous rose garden, and all influenced America taste.

A short stroll to lunch at Brasserie du Chateau

Afterwards visit La Petite Malmaison where Josephine spent her last years (by kind arrangement with Count Stefan Czarnecki).
Return to the centre of Paris for a focused visit to the Louvre to see the French paintings Jefferson saw at the Salon of 1787. His favorite was Le Mort de Socrate by David.

Dinner independently

Leave (with luggage) for the Gare de Lyon to take the fast train (TGV) to Lyon. Our private coach will meet us at Lyon Perrache station and we’ll be off to visit parts of Lyon that Jefferson saw. He compared the Rhone River flowing through Lyon with the wide Susquehanna River of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Visit the Musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs to see the renowned textiles of Lyon – toiles, silks, French calicos – and furniture.

Lunch at a typical bouchon of Lyon

Time to explore Old Lyon.

Continue by coach to the Hotel Cloitre St Louis, 20 rue Portail Boquier, 84000 Avignon, Tel: + 33 4 90 27 55 55 55, fax: + 33 4 90 80 98 10

Dinner at the hotel

Leave for Villeneuve-les-Avignon and visit a private apartment with collections at the 10th century L’Abbaye-St-André above the town.
Continue to the Pont du Gard, the 2,000 year old Roman bridge and aqueduct that Jefferson noted had fig trees growing from its masonry joints.

We will take lunch in the town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and enjoy a tasting at the famed vineyard as Jefferson would have done.

Continue to Orange and visit the Roman Theatre built in the 1st century. Jefferson was not pleased that the city of Orange was removing stones from the theatre to build roads!

Stop for a walk to the Fontaine de Vaucluse, an idyllic spot known for its romanticism which was confirmed to Jefferson by the many nightingales in “full song.”

Return to Avignon

Dinner independently

Begin the morning with a walking tour of Avignon with a view of the Palais des Papes, built by 12th century popes when the papal court was moved to Avignon.

Leave by private coach to visit Arles, to include the Eglise St-Trophime, the 12th century Romanesque church and Gothic cloisters. Enjoy a look round the Roman amphitheatre visited by Jefferson.

Lunch in Arles

In Aix-en-Provence, we will tour the town with its picturesque market and visit the Pavillon de Vendome, a private residence which now houses the furniture and works of art by Van Loo.

Early dinner at historic Brasserie les Deux Garcons in Aix.

Return to Avignon

Leave (with luggage) on private motor coach for drive to Toulouse.
Along the way we will stop at Nimes to visit the Maison Carrée the building that inspired Jefferson’s design of the Virginia capitol. Continue on to Bezier to view the canals that so impressed Jefferson.

Lunch en route.

Jefferson left his canal boat and hired a horse to ride to Carcassonne. We, too, stop at the famous walled medieval village.

Continue to the Grand Hotel de l’Opéra, Place du Capitole, F-31000 Toulouse, Tel: +33 5 61218266, fax: +33 5 61234104 (92km)

Dinner independently

The canal on which Jefferson was travelling ends in Toulouse. He lodged there, like we will, for two nights and hired a local valet to show him the sites of the city. Our walking tour of Toulouse will include a visit to the Basilique St-Sernin, the great Romanesque Abby and Church famous as a pilgrimage church for those on their way to Santiago de Compostela, the Capitole and the Louis XIV complex of government buildings. For a look at regional decorative arts, we’ll visit the Paul Dupuy Museum and its “cabinets” of objects.

Lunch under own arrangement and afternoon at leisure.

Farewell dinner at Les Jardins de l’Opéra