A Gay Tour of Paris: The Marais, the Moulin Rouge and Me

After 28 years guiding in Europe, there's one question I get asked more than any other: "What's your favourite city?" My answer never changes. I LOVE PARIS. I love Paris in the springtime, I love it in the fall, I love it in winter when it drizzles, and I freakin' love it in summer when she sizzles. And I still get a real kick out of showing it off. Then again, was there ever a city built to show off more than Paris?

So when Wayne and I were dreaming up Rosé Royale, our journey through Provence and the French Riviera, I couldn't resist giving it a Parisian overture. The Gay Paris Extension is four days and three nights in the City of Light, with all the razzle dazzle, before we all board the TGV south together. Think of it as the opening number before the main show.

Home Is the Marais



Every city has a heart, and for queer Paris it beats in the Marais. Cobbled lanes wind past grand old mansions, tiny boutiques and cafés spilling onto the footpath, and rainbow flags hang from the windows. This neighbourhood has belonged to the LGBTQ+ community for a long time, and you feel it the moment you arrive.

So this is where we stay, at Le Grand Mazarin, billed as the newest, funkiest five star hotel in town. Yes, it's a little bit bougie. Actually, it's a lot bougie, and that's exactly why we love it. Every room mixes French classicism with a wink of artistic mischief, all colour and opulence. Not many hotels in Paris have a swimming pool, but this one has an eight metre indoor pool beneath a stunning fresco by Jacques Merle. There's also a Technogym fitness room under a stone vaulted ceiling, if that's your thing, and a private spa suite for a massage, which is very much mine. After a day on the Parisian pavements, your feet will thank you.

On our first afternoon, Jonathan, our local specialist, walks us through the Marais and shows you the best places to shop, party and play. Then we settle in at one of our favourite local spots for welcome drinks and canapés. That's when the real magic starts, as you meet the people you're about to share all of this with.

The Postcard Version, Done Properly

Some people want to see every famous landmark. Others swear they're far too sophisticated for all that, then quietly take forty photos of the Eiffel Tower. I see you, and either way you're covered.

As I've said, Paris really is my favourite city in Europe, and I can't wait for you to see it through my eyes. So I host a morning of sightseeing myself, aboard a private luxury coach, gliding past the Champs Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Opera House and the Louvre, and stopping wherever the photos demand it. Along the way I'll share the stories I love most, not just about the buildings but about the people and characters who have helped shape this incredible city. There's no wrestling with the metro map, just Paris parading past your window, looking thoroughly pleased with itself.

And the morning ends at the Grand Dame - the Eiffel Tower. We ride up to the first floor for a delicious three course lunch at Madame Brasserie, with paired wines and the rooftops of Paris laid out below. There's something about seeing the whole city laid out beneath you, the Seine curling through it, that makes even me stop and smile!

A Day That's Entirely Yours

A great trip leaves you room to breathe, so one full day is all yours. After you book, we chat with you one on one to plan it, so it's your perfect Parisian day and not ours.

Maybe that's Versailles, where the Hall of Mirrors and gardens were built to impress a king and still do. Maybe it's the Louvre, or the Impressionists at the Musée d'Orsay, where a whole day still won't feel long enough. Or maybe you're more of a Rue de Rivoli or Avenue Montaigne traveller, in which case I salute you and your shopping bags. Some of my best moments in Paris have happened with no plan at all, just wandering with nowhere in particular to be.

Feathers, Sequins and the Can Can

Paris does finales like nowhere else, and ours is at the Moulin Rouge. We have tables reserved for a three course dinner before the curtain goes up, and then it's pure spectacle: feathers, sequins, costumes that defy physics, breathtaking choreography and the famous can can, danced with the kind of confidence the rest of us can only dream of. It's a clutch your pearls kind of show, absolutely breathtaking!

It's camp, it's glorious, and it's the perfect way to say au revoir.