Paris Walking Tour: Jazz Evening with Dinner and Concert
Discover the famous neighborhoods, nightclubs, bars and brasseries that inspired the greats of the Jazz Age on this 3-hour Paris walking tour, ending with dinner and a jazz concert. Gain insight into Paris' rich jazz heritage as you stroll St-Germain-des-Prés, the Latin Quarter and Les Halles with your guide, pausing at legendary venues such as Les Deux Magots and Le Caveau de la Huchette. Finish with a 3-course dinner and live jazz performance at the Le Duc des Lombards. Your group size is limited to 15 to ensure a personalized experience.
Meet your guide in Paris' St-Germain-des-Prés district and set off on your jazz-themed walking tour. St-Germain-des-Prés and the neighboring areas of the Latin Quarter and Les Halles boast a jazz heritage dating back to the 1920s, and many of the great jazz musicians from France and abroad had regular slots in the underground bars and clubs here.
Listen to an introduction on the history of jazz in Paris from your guide as you walk to Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, two of Paris' most famous cafes that were very popular among jazz musicians, writers, intellectuals and artists in the early days. Pause to take a look at the former location of the Club St-Germain-des-Prés, where many of the French and American greats used to play. Numerous gigs took place in cellar bars just like this one, earning jazz fans the nickname troglodytes, or cave-dwellers.
See the hotel where 1920s and 30s jazz men such as Kenny Clarke and Bud Powell often held late-night jam sessions after their gigs. Clarke’s loose, improvisational bebop drum style opened the genre up to wider variations, and it was here that the style of sound was perfected. Later you'll see where Powell used to play his signature bebop jazz piano shows, at Le Chat Qui Pêche.
Stand at the site of the legendary Le Tabou club, where French songwriter and musician Boris Vian introduced the club’s hip crowd of playwrights, existentialists, movers and shakers to the American jazz greats in the early 1950s. Veering through the bustling Latin Quarter, stop for a drink at local cafe and hear stories about the development of jazz in Paris — the Chanson Française style of French folk music dominated the pre–WWI era, but when jazz arrived in 1919, there was a clash between traditionalists and those who preferred the new jazz movement.
Visit Paris' oldest jazz club, Le Caveau de la Huchette, and then cross the Seine River via the Pont Neuf to the area of Les Halles for the finale of your tour: dinner and a jazz concert at Le Duc des Lombards, one of Paris' most prominent jazz clubs. Sit down to a 3-course dinner (see sample menu below) and let the smooth, sultry sounds of jazz flow over you during a 1.5-hour live performance.
