Welcome in France

Hello !
First, I want to say "sorry" to people who contacted me for tours when I was not available. If I can give you an advise : book at least one month before. It is free, and there are absolutely no hidden fees, such as cancellation fees. I only ask my guests to brief me if they cancel, at least one week before! The touristic season begins in France, and I have many bookings waiting. So if you want to be sure to make your tour with "KANTAN", please book fast
For my service HOTEL BOOKING I hope this will make you save money for shopping in Paris. It became sooo expensive for tourists, with the Euro! Even for us, life is more and more expensive because of this money. We miss our french franc ! Thank you all for using my services and feel free to mail me, if you just need informations to prepare your trip, I have my phone and answer to mails generally fast, except when I sleep !

There is a way to discover the Mont-Saint-Michel, chosen by 95% of tourists: choosing a Tour. From Paris, taking a bus to reach the Mont, taking pictures and going back to the bus at 4PM, to be in Paris at 8.

Watching the sunset in the Mont-Saint-Michel is a magic experience, unforgettable. When you cross the half of the planet to visit France, it is a kind of...criminal when you come to Mont-Saint-Michel to leave before the sunset.

Far from the daily traffic, enjoy Paris at night with KANTAN : Montparnasse tower, Eiffel tower, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Elysées, Louvre, Notre-Dame church, Sacre-Coeur basilica, Pompidou center, Paris mosque...

First of all, the service : KANTAN PARIS TOUR includes :

• Pick-up and drop-off to your hotel FOR FREE, whatever you're IN or OUTSIDE Paris. 
• Enjoy the smart minivan, comfortable and fully-equipped!
• Unlimited time visit : no 2-hours visit, no 5 minutes photo-stops. Take your time, breathe, relax. You decide of the time. Just prepare your cameras and memory cards, you will need them to take wonderful pictures of the most beautiful city in the world.
  

-         Montparnasse tower : It’s our first step! We are about to enjoy the most beautiful view of the city, facing the ”Iron Lady” Tour Eiffel.

      We will reach the roof through the fastest elevator in Europe, about 56 floors in 38 seconds only! From the roof the view is simply unbelievable! As a Tour-guide I often come here and I still take wonderful pictures of this view.

      We will wait the Eiffel tower shines and take pictures, I will be here of course, with you, to photograph you in this fantastic roof! There is also a panoramic bar, the highest in Europe, if you want to enjoy a drink facing the city!

  -         Cour Napoléon - Louvre pyramid :

      One of the most magic places in Paris. The pyramid on the middle of Cour Napoleon is an amazing spectacle. Here again, many pictures will be taken!!

  

-         Notre-Dame de Paris : Master-work of Gothic architecture, Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the most beautiful churches in the world. The most visited monument in Paris behind Eiffel tower!

-         Pompidou center: a unique and surprising modern complex that houses a Modern Art Museum, and a huge public library.

   

   

-         Paris mosque: Enjoy a changing into oriental atmosphere, and have a wonderful cup of mint tea, the best in Paris.

-         Concorde, Champs-Elysées and Tour Eiffel stops: Impossible to miss those monuments that made the Paris reputation all around the world! Of course we’ll take all our time to make wonderful pictures together.

-         Sacré-Coeur: the final step will drive us to the north, at the summit of Buttes-Montmartre, to see the roman basilica of Sacré-Coeur.

This tour has been thought for people who want to have a global view of Paris at night! With all services that made KANTAN guests all around the world happy: pick-up and drop-off for free whatever your hotel is, no limited time for the pictures, for the sites we visit, for anything. Your guide takes every picture you want. We will discover the most visited sites, such as Place de la Concorde, Sacré-Coeur, Champs-Elysées, but also some places tour-guides companies never shows as the Montparnasse tower, the Paris Mosque and the Pompidou center.

Of course you cannot visit Paris in one single day, for example to visit the Louvre museum you need a whole journey. But with this tour you could enjoy and visit a lot of sites, take many beautiful pictures, collect many souvenirs, enjoy a mint tea in Paris mosque with locals, and many things else.

Hello,

Many guests told me " David, why you don't make tours in Paris we'd like to visit Paris with you ". I always thought Paris can be visited without a Tour-guide, traffic during day-time is important and stressful, for you as for me, so I decided not to make tours in Paris. But, I went to Montreal some weeks ago and felt lost in the city, I thought tourists in Paris can feel lost like that too...
Anyways, to visit the Louvre, Champs-Elysées, Tour Eiffel and main Paris monuments you don't need a tour-guide it's right. Those monuments are easy to reach by subway, it will be cheaper and better to visit by your own, so, visit Paris alone, hehe !

I checked Paris tours, and I don't understand how we can provide a Tour of only one area of Paris, or a visit of 2 hours in the Louvre, for such a big price. Anyway, it's maybe easier for them...

I decided to create a Paris tour too... but at night, and in an other way! Let me present it to you, and give me your thought !

 

Hello,

During my tours, I always propose to the guest a stop in the cities we cross. I think it's important, when you come from far away, to visit the more, and it's a kind of foolish, for example, when you are going to the Mont-Saint-Michel, not to stop to Caen. That is the town I will introduce you today^^

Caen is a city founded 1000 years ago by William the Conqueror. It is a Norman-French city, with many things to discover. Anyways, it worth a stop. Built in around 1060 to house Duke William’s residential palace,
the Château of Caen remains one of the largest fortified enclosures in Europe. Here are some pictures, welcome in Caen !!

Here is a side of William's castle ( Guillaume le Conquerant in french )

It is behind these walls that William, surrounded by his barons, prepared to expel the traitor Harold from England. His conquest at Hastings in 1066 would give the future King of England the nickname “the Conqueror”. The Exchequer Room bears the memory of feasts organised by the Duke Kings, descendants of William through to Richard the Lionheart.
However, through the centuries, the Château would gradually be swallowed up by the city, stifled by houses and forgotten by Caen inhabitants until the bombings in 1944...
In the heart of a destroyed quarter, the old medieval enclosure seemed to have sprung up from nowhere. It is the start of a new life...

The castle is free to visit. But it is not a castle like Loire's castles. here are inside pictures :

My guests liked this stop in Caen, there was a nice sun, unusual for the season. The Norman region has a strong gastronomy, especially fish, and "crepes".
Caen is one hour from Mont-Saint-Michel, you can always try to ask the bus " stop us at Caen please, we want to visit a little bit", he won't. Only KANTANFRANCE does.

I hope my pictures makes you travel with me ( ^_^)
More pictures, for photography lovers, in my flickr account

Thank youuuuuuuuhouhou^^

David

Hi,

http://kantanfrance.wordpress.com/

See you there^^

また

Enjoy a Tour in the Mont-Saint-Michel, "Marvel of the West". in 2008 is celebrated the 1300th anniversary of the Abbey, first french site listed in the UNESCO World-Heritage list. The Mont-Saint-Michel is situated in a bay of 40.000 hectares, traversed by three rivers and washed twice a day by the tides.

Enjoy a Tour in a complete quietness : in a smart and comfortable mini-van, equipped with magazines and newspapers in your language and videogames ( Sony PSP and NIntendo DS ). You can travel only with your family, with your colleagues or your friends, up to 5 persons. Your guide and driver cares about everything. You can relax.

No meeting points at 6 in the morning. Pick-up and drop-off at your hotel free. A guide for 5 persons maximum, a cheerful atmosphere.

The best is still to come. The price of the Tour is up to 40% cheaper than others : 125 EUR per person, when other tour agencies will make you pay up to 200 EUR, for a poor tour in an old and polluting bus, narrowed with 80 other persons.
You won't find this level of service and this price nowhere.

The Mont-Saint-Michel is the second most visited site in France, just after the Tour Eiffel. Up to 4 million people visited the site in 2007.

-Pick-up at your hotel
-Transportation to Mont-Saint-Michel 
-Your personal guide and driver
-VIP equipment : newspapers and magazines in your language, videogames, CD players and an icebox with fresh drinks inside. 
-Families and small groups accepted up to 5 persons.
- No limited time for the Tour :  we leave the Mont-Saint-Michel when you want.
- Drop-off at your hotel

Make your stay easy and save money^^. Your french guide cares about everything.
For the first time, a tour-guide offers you the possibility to choose, in a complete freedom.
 

Booking is free. Here you can book, or ask any informations about the service, the guide, the transportation, the minivan, the price.

The mission of "KANTAN FRANCE" is to make your stay easier, and affordable.

Coming in France without visiting the Mont-Saint-Michel is very very dramatic^^. It is an unforgettable visit.

 

 

Hello^^

Today, I will present you the Castle of Cheverny. It belongs to the family Hurault, since the 13th century. The castle is not a former kings residence, it's a private castle. My guests preferred visiting this castle because of the wonderful Tintin exhibition and the possibility to have a "pique-nique" in the domain.

Personaly I think it's better to visit the Castle of Chambord, former property of french King Francois 1er. But for people that knows Tintin adventures, visiting Cheverny is a must and a wonderful experience^^

Visiting France in winter has a great advantage : the castles and the sites are not over-crowded, so the visit is easy, and quiet. 

Other amazing decision of the owners : you cannot take any pictures inside the castle. But the interior is very classic,  nothing surprising.

Cheverny is also an important estate for hunting with hounds. Visitors can view the kennels and can even watch the dogs being fed every day at 5pm from the 1st April to the 15th September. For the moment they are lazily sleeping^^.

As I said you there is a wonderful Tintin permanent exhibition, that really really worth the visit^^. Here are some pictures^^

 

Hello,

  For our second castle, we visited Chaumont-Sur-Loire. The history of this castle started 1000 years ago, originally it was a fortress to protect the town of Blois from attacks.

 The original fortress was destroyed by Louis XI in the mid-fifteenth century in revenge for the part its owner, Pierre d'Amboise, played in the "League of Public Weal", an alliance of powerful nobles against the ever-increasing power of the monarch.

Since February 2007, the Chateau of Chaumont-Sur-Loire belongs to the Centre region.

View on the Loire and the village from the Castle.
The Loire valley and Castle de Chaumont are both in UNESCO's World-Heritage List.

The Ruggieri's room. He was Catherine de Médicis official astrologer.

In the picture under it is the chapel of the Castle. It is funny to think that some centuries ago some people were praying here^^

 

Now let's get out of the Castle to see the  stables of the castle

 

Don't expect to see horses in a UNESCO Monument^^. It would have been better of course, they just put the noise of horses, and when you get in you have... fake horses! They want to keep it clean, but we can see that former horse keepers were very attentive to their animals.

For our third castle the Tour inbcluded a visit of the last house of Leonardo Da Vinci, but my guests wanted to change to go to Cheverny. The castle of Cheverny is well known of readers of "Tintin adventures". It is a comik book from Belgium which had a great success some years ago. The castle is the model of Chateau de Moulinsart the house of Captain Haddock. We'll discover it in the next note^^

 

Hello,

Last week I made a Tour in Loire valley for some guests from United Arab Emirates, here are the pictures^^. First we visited the Chenonceaux Castle, built in the 16th century. It is today the most visited castle in France :

Entrance of the castle. Kept by two stoned sphinx at each side.

Made in 1515, this hall is one of the most beautiful examples of decorative sculpting from the French Renaissance period.

Kitchens of the Castle. Cooking inside forbidden ;.)

On the left side, it is Diane de Poitiers bedroom.

Picture of the Sun King, Louis XIV

 

This castle really worth the visit, it was amazing to see how people from United Arab Emirates were fascinated^^. Those castles are a part of OUR world-heritage, I mean the whole planet, those castle belongs to French, as a part of French History, but belongs to Japanese, to American, to Australian, Chinese...as our World-Heritage^^

The second castle we visited was Chaumont-Sur-Loire, it will be in a second note. Remember to have a look in the Tour "visit the french kings" here

Let's visit the second castle^^