Through fashionable Paris in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn

(7 reviews)

Paris audio tour: Through fashionable Paris in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn

This is a 1.8mi walking tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

Paris

France

$8.99

Access all 21 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

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About the Tour

Audrey Hepburn owed her inimitable style to a lifelong love affair with Paris and its designers. She made five films here, starting with Funny Face in 1957. Love in the Afternoon came next, and after that there was Charade, Paris When It Sizzles, and finally How to Steal a Million, in 1966.

This walk explores Audrey's connections to the most fashionable parts of this most fashionable city, taking in the headquarters of Givenchy and many other famous couturiers.

Tour Producer

Philippa Campsie

4 tours

Philippa Campsie lived in Paris as a student, studying French history and literature at the Sorbonne, and staying in a chambre de bonne with a view of the tip of the Eiffel Tower. She never got the city out of her system after that and returns regularly with her husband, Norman Ball. Since 2010, she and Norman have written about Paris on a blog called "Parisian Fields" (https://parisianfields.com/). They like to get beyond basic tourist information, and draw on her experiences in urban planning and his knowledge as a historian of technology to explain features of the city's streets, and tell the stories of people who contributed to the life of the city. Philippa started creating tours for VoiceMap in 2015. Currently, she is carrying out research in Paris on the history of the education of blind people (the first school for the blind was founded in Paris) and the invention of braille. One day she hopes to create a tour for visually impaired visitors to the city.

Preview Location

Location 1

Start at the Alma-Marceau metro station

You are standing in the Place d'Alma, looking out across the Seine at the Eiffel Tower. This is a part of Paris that Audrey Hepburn knew well, as you'll find out over today's walk.

My name is Philippa Campsie, and I'm going to take you to some of the places in the city asso... You are standing in the Place d'Alma, looking out across the Seine at the Eiffel Tower. This is a part of Paris that Audrey Hepburn knew well, as you'll find out over today's walk.

My name is Philippa Campsie, and I'm going to take you to some of the places in the city associated with Audrey Hepburn. She never lived here, but she worked here and visited often. I too am a frequent visitor in Paris, and I studied here as a student. I've long been a fan of Audrey's movies and one day I decided to hunt down some of the locations of the films she made right here in Paris.

I started with my favourite of them all, "How to Steal a Million," made in 1966, and the first thing I learned was that the mansion in that film is not in Paris at all, but in a nearby suburb called Neuilly. However, many other scenes in that movie were filmed in the centre of the city, and the same was true of her other Paris films. I put all the locations on a map and realized that a cluster of them would make a good walking tour. Et voila...here is the result.

Right now we are standing close to the centre of the Paris haute couture industry. Audrey Hepburn is known as much for her fashion leadership as for her acting career, and her relationship with the designer Hubert de Givenchy was a huge part of her role in fashion. It all began close to where you are standing now.

While you're standing here, take a look at the Eiffel Tower. Do you remember the finale of the song "Bonjour Paris" in the movie "Funny Face"? It was filmed on the lowest platform of the tower. "Funny Face," made in 1957, was the first time Audrey had worked on location in Paris.

But even before making that film, Audrey came here to plan the wardrobe for "Sabrina," filmed in the United States in 1954. The Paris scenes in that movie were fake, including the Eiffel Tower seen from the window of the cooking school, but Audrey's Paris gowns were the real thing.

Before we set off, let me explain how this works. VoiceMap uses your location to play commentary automatically. You can put your phone in your pocket, and focus on your surroundings. You’ll hear my voice again when you reach the next destination, and I'll give you directions to keep you on track.

Let's start walking now. We're making a quick stop around the corner, and then we'll head back this way. Just take the crosswalk nearest to the Metro exit, which takes you to the far side of Avenue George V. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

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Major Landmarks

Stamp market
Place de la Concorde
Hotel Crillon
Boutique Maxim's de Paris

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
75008 Paris, France
Total distance

3km
Final location
15 Pl. Vendôme, 75001 Paris, France
Distance back to start location

2km

Directions to Starting Point

Take Metro Line 9 to Alma-Marceau. Exit the metro station by the stairs marked Avenue Montaigne. You will come out into the Place de l'Alma.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

On this walk, you will pass dozens of fashion boutiques, representing everything from high-end couture by Givenchy to fast fashion by Zara. The area is better known for fashion than for food, although the big hotels we will pass (Plaza Athénée, Hotel Crillon, Hotel Ritz) all have impressive restaurants. L’Avenue, at 41 Avenue Montaigne, is a great place to spot celebrities during Fashion Week in spring and fall, but the food is undistinguished and the prices are steep. A better bet is the Italian restaurant inside Artcurial, an auction house located where Avenue Montaigne meets the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées. It is not cheap, but it is better value. If you stop in, check out its exhibits of items to be auctioned. If you have a sweet tooth, don’t miss Ladurée, famed for its macaroons, on the rue Royale. Or, if you crave some extraordinary hot chocolate, at the end of the walk, leave the Place Vendome by the rue Castiglione, walk towards the Tuileries Gardens, turn left on the rue Rivoli, and look for Angelina’s, a chocolate shop where Coco Chanel used to be a regular.

Best time of day

Daytime, especially Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays.

Precautions

Be sure to cross roads at marked crossing places. Traffic can be very heavy along some parts of the route.

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“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”

Google Play Store

Questions and Reviews

4.7 / 5

7 Ratings

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