Visits to Assemblée Nationale

[janetnj]

I've just signed up for a guided tour of the Assemblée Nationale in November. Visits are offered on Saturdays when in session and Monday through Saturday when not in session.

Here's a link to the website in English:

www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/#visits

There's more information on the French version, including tour times and availability of audioguides in English, German and Spanish.

www.assemblee-nationale.fr/infos/visiter.asp

I clicked on the link on the website and signed up for a tour. September & October were fully booked. Limited availability in November. Plenty of openings in December. I got an email confirmation the next day.

Tour is free.

I took a tour of Le Sénat last year which was great. I'll report back after my visit.

[mez]

Thanks, Janet. Sounds interesting.

Another one to add to the list.

[Belladonna]

That does look interesting Janet. Thanks for the info.

[PariS]

Awesome tip, Janet! I just signed us up! There were only 2 spots open. I'm still working on getting in to the Senat while we're there. I emailed the address given on their site but haven't heard back yet.

[janetnj]

That's great Annette!

I wasn't reading the calendar right when I said October was booked. Looks like there are some openings on October 26.

If the process for tours of Le Sénat is working the same as last year, they'll give a date & time they start taking reservations. I would call or email right at the start time. I sent an email about 3 hours later and the tour was already full. I asked them to let me know if anything became available - they emailed a few weeks later to say they'd added another tour.

I think your visit to Assemblée Nationale is before mine in November. Would love to hear about it.

[PariS]

Thanks Janet, I'll try to post how it goes before you leave! The Senat website gives different directions than it did when you first posted about their visits. It now says tours are available one Saturday per month, at either 10:30am or 2:30pm, and can be made by phone [phone]) or email: [e-mail] I emailed several weeks ago but haven't heard back, so I might try again.

[janetnj]

Well we had our tour on Saturday and I'm sorry to report back that overall I found it disappointing. The best part was seeing the hemicycle and the library which were fantastic. When I was standing in the hemicycle I kept saying to myself - I can't believe I'm here. However, the guide just wasn't that effective. She had a problem with her throat and I couldn't hear her. I only understand about 1/3 of a French tour when the guide enunciates well and speaks loudly. But her voice kept trailing off. It was impossible to hear and she didn't take good control of the group. I felt bad for her since she clearly wasn't feeling 100%.

I was looking forward to it because my visit to le Sénat last year was great. The guide spoke clearly and we got a chance to sit in the main meeting room. People asked lots of questions and I learned a lot about the Senate itself and not just the building. The Sénat tour costs €9 and I think is done by a professional guide as it's managed through the Center of National Monuments, while the Assemblée Nationale tour is free and managed independently.

Both buildings are impressive, but if you're deciding which tour to do I'd pick le Sénat.

Annette - I'm wondering how your visit went?

[PariS]

Janet--did they not offer you an audio guide? We were evidently the only English speakers on our tour and the guide felt really bad that he couldn't explain things to us in English, so he made sure we had audio guides (which were a little dry, but informative). I agree, the hemicycle and the library were the highlights for us, too--gorgeous, grand rooms full of history. This was the 3rd tour we'd taken on this trip that were totally in French, so Darryl was really happy that he had *something* he could listen to (we also visited the Gobelins tapestry factory and Hotel de Ville). The tour was very long, I can say that. The tour guide spoke much longer than the commentary on the audio guide for each room, so I know we missed out on a lot. You're doing pretty good with your French if you usually understand 1/3 of what the tour guides are telling you! I maybe pick up 25%--just enough to catch the gist of things. There were no tours of the Senat in October, so we missed out on that, but I'm going to try again in March.

[mez]

A shame it wasn't as good as you hoped.

Guides really can make or break a tour.

[janetnj]

Mez - you're right. A guide really does make or break a tour.

Annette - I saw the sign for the audio guides, but there was no mention of them. The guide just came out and started the tour. I probably wouldn't have taken one anyway, because I try to use the opportunity to hear a native French speaker and my cousin was there to fill in any major gaps. But he had problems hearing too.

I took the Hotel de Ville tour too. I thought it was good. The rooms were beautiful and the guide articulated well. They were setting up for a function which created a lot of background noise, but it was interesting to watch. I visited Hotel de Ville on Journées du Patrimoine a few years ago when many more rooms are open, but I enjoyed the guided tour as well.

My favorite tour this trip, and maybe all time, was an unexpectedly in-depth visit of a church - St. Joseph des Carmes. i thought it was a brief visit of the crypt and instead it was a 2 hour tour of the entire church. i never would have gone if I knew it would be that long, but I'm so glad I did - it was fascinating. A hidden room behind the transept where the monks listened to the service, Josephine was imprisoned there and there's an inscription on the wall allegedly by her but they think someone else wrote it, skulls in the crypt. The guide was so passionate and knowledgeable. Luckily my cousin was with me and filled in the gaps. We're both still talking about it.