Proust in Paris, Illiers-Combray and Cabourg (Balbec)
June 22 -28, 2008
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Spending a week traveling
to sites significant in Proust’s life and work was one of the most
extraordinary trips of my life. Before I went, I couldn’t imagine going on
an organized tour, but we had access to places and documents that an
individual tourist would never have had. And on the upcoming trip,
with the leadership of Bill Carter, one of the most knowledgeable people in
the world about Proust and one of the most respected Proustians in France,
it promises to be even better.
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Harold Augenbraum, Founder of the Proust Society of
America and editor of the forthcoming Collected Poems of Marcel Proust
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Join us for an exploration of Marcel Proust's life, his times, his writing.
Follow in his footsteps in Paris, Illiers-Combray, and Cabourg (Balbec).
Readings, discussion, debate.
Tour Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive in Paris. Transfer on your own to your hotel. The boutique hotels we
favor do not take large groups. Therefore our group of up to 20 will stay at
more than one hotel.
Afternoon: Pick up by our private bus for tour of Proust Paris sites, including:
- Drive by the Proust apartment at 102 Blvd. Haussmann
- Drive by 9 Blvd. Malsherbes (another Proust apartment)
- Visit Pere Lachaise cemetery and Proust’s grave
- Marcel Proust Promenade in the garden along the Champs-Elysees
- Drive through the Bois de Bologne
Early dinner at restaurant of the Belle Epoque. Proust dined here.
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La Tante Leonie House |
Day 2
Early morning departure for Illiers-Combrary where we will meet our guide,
Elyane Dezon-Jones, former guide at Tante Leonie’s house and author of a
mystery book (Murder Chez Proust).
We are very fortunate to have Elyane as our guide as she is still a part-time
resident of Illiers-Combray and a Proust scholar.
Activities include:
- Tour Tante Leonie’s small house
- Visit the church where the Narrator first saw the Duchess de Guermantes
- Walk along the Guermantes way where, hopefully ,the hawthorne will be in
bloom
- Lunch at Le Sultan
We end our stay in Illiers-Combray with tea and madeleines and reading of the
Proust madeleine episode
Return to Paris. Dinner on your own.
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Examining original Proust notebooks at Biblotheque Nationale in 2004 |
Day 3
Morning: A highlight of SWT Tours' past Proust trip was our visit to the Bibliotheque Nationale
to view Proust notebooks. We are fortunate indeed that Thierry Delcourt,
Director of the Manuscript Department of the Bibliotheque Nationale, has graciously extended an invitation
to our group to visit, and we will see the first notebooks Proust wrote for
In Search of Lost Time. This is a very rare opportunity.
We then explore the fascinating history of
the Marais with Pam, an excellent guide, who will also discuss the Dreyfus
Affair in detail.
Visit Musee Jacquemart-André, a beautiful mansion considered the ultimate in
fin-de-siecle style. Certainly the house and its lavish decorations
suggest many parties that the Narrator chronicles. The museum is close to the
Parc Monceau where Proust took frequent walks.
Tea at the Ritz Hotel (optional not included in tour price). This is your
opportunity to visit the Ritz where Proust loved to dine (almost every night
after his mother died). The Ritz does not accept groups so we will make
reservations for tables of six. If we can not all fit in on one day, the
second group can go on our return from Balbec. Price of high tea at the
Ritz about 40 euros.
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Beach at Cabourg (Balbec) |
Days 4, 5 and 6
Bus to Cabourg (Balbec) and check in at the Grand Hotel.
Highlights of our stay include:
- Readings on the beach (weather permitting)
- Excursion to sites in Dives, Trouville and Houlgate featured in Proust
novel
Day 7
8 a.m. departure for Paris, and arrival about noon. You will have the rest of
the day free to do non-Proust things or perhaps visit one of the Proust sites we
do not include in our regular itinerary.
Farewell dinner.
Day 8
Departure for home.
Itinerary subject to adjustments.
When we dine as a group, we go to restaurants that were founded in Proust’s
time, and that have outstanding Belle Epoque interiors. Restaurants include
Brasserie Lipp, Julien, Le Grand Colbert and Vagenende
Cost
$3,675 (USD) include seven nights hotel
(single occupancy), four breakfasts (does not include breakfast at the Grand
Hotel in Cabourg), five dinners (one of the
dinners is your lunch at Illiers-Combray), all activities included in itinerary.
Price for double room for two people available upon request. The price does not include airfare, transfers to and from Paris airport, wine
and alcoholic beverages, lunch, coffee stops, taxis. When bus
transportation is not provided (dinners and some other activities), four people
can share a taxi.
Registration
Contact Mary Ann Zimmerman (maryann@poshnosh.com)
for a registration form. Deposit of $500 required before we confirm your spot.
Send your deposit check of $500 made out to SWT Tours
and mail to:
435 E. 79th Street, 4L
New York, NY 10021
Final payment is due 75 days before departure, April 4th. Hotels require a hefty
deposit 60 days before our Paris arrival.
Tour is limited to 20 registrants.
If our June tour fills up, a second Proust tour may be offered from July 2 - 9 (tentative date).
There would be some changes to the itinerary and to the cost for the second tour. Minimum number of participants
is 12.
If you have questions, contact Mary Ann Zimmerman at
maryann@poshnosh.com or phone
212-988-1359.
About the Tour Coordinator and Director
Mary Ann Zimmerman, owner and operator of SWT Tours, is Tour Coordinator and
Director. Mary Ann created a very successful Proust Tour of Paris in 2004.
She has been a member of the once-a-month Proust Study Group at the Mercantile
Library in New York for the last for years. In addition, she attends a
Proust reading group that also meets once a month concentrating on just ten pages
of Proust’s epic novel.
In addition to her Proust tours, Mary Ann also conducts other literary tours.
including:
Literary Venice in the 19th Century
(focuses on Byron, Henry James and Ruskin and their
Venice connection) and Literary
London. A literary tour of Trieste, focusing on James
Joyce, is in development.
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