This week, in our #ExperienceOfTheWeek series, we’re introducing you to Marion and her From Paris with Fun tours. Spoiler Alert! If you like treasure hunts, this may by the best tour provider you can choose when traveling to Paris this year. Wanna hear more? Let’s hear directly from Marion herself.
Q1: Hi Marion, how are you doing?
Bonjour ! Doing great! Paris is beginning to live again and May is always a nice month. The weather improves dramatically and we have four public holidays in France this month. Everybody is outside enjoying free time, family and friends. Plus by next month, lockdown measures will be eased and foreign tourists will be allowed to visit France again! I look forward to it!
Q2: Let’s dive in. Tell us about the story of From Paris With Fun. How did it all start?
It all started when I decided to make a career change after living 2 years as an expat on a French Island in the West Indies. Back then, I used to work in communication but after this experience, I fell in love with tourism. When I came back to Paris, I met Sylvana, a licensed guide. During a tour around Palais Royal, she told me about the line of Arago Medallions in Paris. At this very moment, an idea popped up into my mind. And it was about organizing a treasure hunt.
After that, I realized that scooter is used by everyone in Paris, so why tourists who want to live like a Parisian couldn’t ride it in a tour? And voilà! From Paris with Fun was born!
Q3: Paris is an amazing destination mostly known for its romantic sceneries and historical sites but you keep betting on the fun part of this city. What tours do you offer?
Yes, you are right, Paris is not always the first destination that comes to your mind for a fun trip. But Paris has soooo much more to offer than “just” romance (which I love, of course!).
When I started the company, I realized that there was an increasing demand for innovation and new ways to visit during a city break. People want to see everything and they also want to be entertained while visiting the city. That is why our tours offer an original way to visit the city with an escape game on a scooter (and if you want to mix both, we’ve got it all).
Our tours are designed to see at least 3 top monuments Paris has to offer with an escape game on non-electrical scooters to make the visit both cultural and fun. It can be a treasure hunt along the Seine, an Investigation around Palais Garnier and Place Vendôme, and a scavenger hunt around Notre Dame de Paris.
Q4: Your treasure and scavenger hunts are one of the most unique tours that we’ve featured on Tripduck. How does a typical day on one of your tours look like?
Thanks! Basically, we meet you at the starting point and let you try the scooter. We provide all the equipment, you just need to come in your comfy shoes.
Once you’re ready, it is time for an adventure and a lot of fun! We give you a booklet with instructions and riddles, and you solve them by going from place to place and examining the city around you, like an open-air escape room. The booklet also contains the main information about the sites you stop by and fun facts about Parisian history. At the end of the tour, we meet the adventurers to pick up the scooters and solve the last riddle together.
Q5: Today many people travel and plan their itineraries on their own. Why would you recommend booking one of your experiences to our travelers?
Our goal is to create a fun way to visit Paris. Our tours are designed for people who want to see the most of Paris but for whom the idea of doing it with a “classical” guided tour is already boring them. For example, if you come with your kids and hard-to-please teenagers and you want them to enjoy your city break with a twist of fun during a cultural tour, it is the perfect activity to make everybody happy.
Plus, if you don’t want to be part of a group tour, our private self-guided games will help you go at your own pace and visit the way you want. If you only want to play the game or if you would rather enjoy the cultural tour is up to you.
I would like to pinpoint that our itineraries are specially designed to be easy with the scooters so you don’t need to be an Olympic athlete.
In the end, we know we met our goals when customers tell us they returned to childhood. Some of them told us they had so much fun that they even think about buying a scooter.
Q6: The travel industry is in uncharted waters right now but we all hope travel will rebound soon. Do you have any special plans prepared for 2021?
Right now, we wait and see. Our fourth tour is in the pipeline but I’d like to see how this season is gonna go before making any decision. Theme tours about cinema or street art in Paris, going more digital with an app, introducing new ways of transportation, or tailor-made tours,… I don’t know yet but I will be sure to ask our customers in order to keep making them happy.
Q8: Last but not least, what is your favorite must-see spot in Paris that you’d take your friends to see or experience? Tips from a true local are always worth it 🙂
Ouch, there are so many places I could recommend! I truly am a Parisian lover, and I love everything about this city. But if I had to pick a very local neighbourhood, I would definitely recommend to try rue de Bagnolet, in the 20th arrondissement, behind Pere Lachaise cemetery.
From Metro Alexandre Duma, go up the street and dive into every street on your left : Cité Aubry, rue Ligner, Rue de la Réunion. You will feel like you are in a tiny village. And don’t forget to have a break in some popular cafés such as Le Piston Pelican, l’Abribus or le Quartier rouge. You will meet locals for sure. You can end your stroll once you’ve reached rue Saint Blaise. On the place next to this street is the Mamma shelter, a restaurant designed by Philippe Stark. It is a fancy place, totally different from the other places in the neighborhood but it is worth going out of your way to see.
Book some of the most popular experiences by From Paris with Fun here:
Treasure hunt along the Seine on a scooter
Escape game outdoors to visit Paris on a scooter
Escape game outdoors to visit Paris on a scooter