We wanted the stories, not just a recount of monuments, landmarks, statues, and churches, especially with two teenagers in tow. Her passion for history and the arts was evident in the manner in which she spoke about Delacroix’s pieces in Saint Sulpice, the progress of the church’s restoration, and the statues of female figures immortalized in the Jardin de Luxembourg. The fervor for French culture was palpable in recommendations for the best chocolate and crêpes, market finds, and amusing anecdotes of her life in France after immigrating from the States.

Claudine Hemingway has fully embraced that French joie de vivre and carries herself with a soft edginess, just like the Louboutin sprinkled throughout her attire. Her name alone gives her street cred for speaking of her relative, Ernest Hemingway. She speaks fluently of the juicy gossip from this literary icon’s years in Paris. Claudine’s lean towards the beauty of literary arts translates into her friendships with current well-known authors. In conversation, she casually mentioned her kind and friendly neighbor, who she recalled had a cat she needed to feed later that evening. It’s the one and only Australian author, John Baxter, whose books any Francophile has undoubtedly read. She breathed life into history, connecting it to modern times and its influence in what our eyes, ears, and minds currently absorb of France.

While we had stayed in the sixth arrondissement in the city of lights, before, she toured us through providing an in-depth perspective of this corner of Paris. Her words provoked a strong desire to follow suit of her determination to move to Paris, to savor a slower pace in which one’s always surrounded by beauty. Her open candor didn’t shy away from exposing the non-glamorous side of an American expat in Paris, but her honesty highlighted the beauty of French culture we all wish to infuse in our lives.

She is also your best resource for anything related to the Louvre or Notre Dame Cathedral, so if you can’t make it to Paris for a private tour, her social media  https://www.youtube.com/@ClaudineBleuBlondeRougeinvites followers to experience Paris through her eyes as a historian, highlighting the beauty of Paris, its culture and historical influence in every corner you turn.