A Paris for women
Proprietors of Let's Be Une Parisienne provide female-centric tours
By Kei Hotoda
Published: December 15th, 2005 | 2:01pm
Paris is one of the most popular cities in the world to visit, and as a tourist, there is never enough time to fully appreciate it. Even just a few days in the City of Light and Love has potential to be enchanting, but because of its rich culture and history and myriad offerings, it can be difficult to know where to begin touring.
Without wise guidance, discovering the true essence of the city can be a challenge. But Tamara (left) and Tessa (right), a Parisienne and a Londoner, respectively, have found an alternative way to provide eccentric tours through their small business, Let’s Be Une Parisienne (beparisienne.com). Not only do they tailor the tours to the tourists’ personal interests, but they also give tours with a feminine twist.
Though the concept is unique and fascinating, the women say that they faced certain hardships in getting started with their small company in France, since they are a registered British business. They found that the French could be uptight about helping foreign entrepreneurs. “As soon as you say that you are not a French company, a lot of misunderstanding grows,” Tamara said. “We had to get to grips with all the legal aspects of the tourism sector. It certainly was not an easy task.”
The duo also found that France continues to carry certain “outdated stereotypes” toward women, and the French generally find it difficult to embrace the concept of equality among women and men. “It takes a long time for France to embrace new ideas,” Tamara said, but not because they are not open to them. Rather, she said, “They need to debate [them] for a long time.” For example, when Tamara and Tessa began to advertise their business in Paris, some French men simply could not accept the concept of woman-oriented tours.
But then what does it mean to give a “tailored” tour or to provide a tour from a woman’s point of view? Tamara and Tessa, who are trained in tourism and French history, greet the visitors upon their arrival in France and take them to their accommodations in Paris. The visitors complete a questionnaire concerning their interests, and depending on how many days they plan to spend in Paris, Tamara and Tessa create tours designed specifically for the visitors. Tourists are free to book anywhere from a half-day to five days during which Tamara and Tessa guide them to select neighborhoods, take them shopping, provide a wine sampling, and show Paris at night.
By retracing the footsteps of Joan of Arc, Sainte Genevieve, and Josephine Baker during their times in Paris, they also show historically significant aspects of the city. They show the mansion of Louis XIV’s many mistresses — the king who once proclaimed, “L’état, c’est moi” had more than 300 children with these women! Tamara and Tessa also take their customers shopping at the food markets (one of which was created by a woman in 1777), and to assorted boutiques and department stores to demonstrate what it is like to be a Parisienne today.
Paris is not just a paradise to tourists and students who study abroad. It is a real city with real gender and race-related problems, as the November 2005 riots in the banlieues, or suburbs, have demonstrated. Nevertheless, Tamara and Tessa seem optimistic about France’s future. “We feel that it has been a ‘mini revolution,’ and we are very positive about the future because some taboos can now be openly expressed,” Tamara said. “The government has given a commitment for an inclusive society and to put more money and more education into the poor suburbs.” Their plans for the future are to spread their women-centric tourism concept to other parts of France.
Issue #26
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