Magic Moments

Reading the madeleine excerpt from Swann's Way while you sip tea and take a bite of your madeleine in Illiers-Combray. Standing in the lobby of the Grand Hotel in Cabourg (Balbec) with a view of the beach. Unforgettable experiences that bring Proust's prose to life.

VISIT THE SITES where your favorite authors lived and wrote.
Readings ... discussions ... lectures.

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Proust in Paris, Illiers-Combray and Cabourg (Balbec)

Paris May 24 - 30 2010 (6 nights leave for home or Venice)

Note: Leave your home city Mary 23rd. We recomend you arrive in Paris a day or two before the tour to enjoy your favorite Paris activities.

A literary dream trip for avid Proust fans or for the Proust neophyte eager to explore the Proust mystique. There is nothing quite like being able to visit the many sites of Proust’s masterpiece In Search of Lost Time. Your trip will forever connect you to the novel.

Highlights:

Paris: Proust’s Louvre, The Ritz, the Dreyfus affair, Proust’s gravesite.
Illiers-Combray: "Tante Leonie's House", the church, "the Meseglise Way", madeleines
Balbec: The Grand Hotel, the beach, the little train station at Dives, and more

Our tour leader is Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, former Director of The Mercantile Library in New York, founder of the Proust Society of America, and editor of forthcoming "The Collected Poems of Marcel Proust" from Penguin Classics.

As the leader of our first Proust in Paris tour five years ago, Harold proclaimed that trip as one of the most extraordinary trips of his life. Everyone agreed that the lectures, readings, lively discussions, walking tours at Belle Epoque restaurants were outstanding. We think that our 2010 tour with more great things to see in Balbec will be even better.

For the first time we will offer a 4-day Venice extension to explore Proust’s fascination with Venice, Ruskin, and its painters (including Carpaccio). See Proust or Venice.

Tour Itinerary

Day 1
Arrive in Paris. Transfer on your own to our small hotel in the chic 6^th Arrondisement, in our opinion, the best area to stay in Paris. Perhaps a coffee at Café de Flore, the preferred café for writers including Sartre and Hemingway.

Check in room when available.

Afternoon: Pick up by private bus for tour of Proust sites including:

The Proust apartment at 102 Blvd. Hausmann
9 Blvd. Malsherbes (another Proust apartment)
Pere Lachaise cemetery and Proust’s grave
A Belle Epoque lavish toilette , a “secret place” near the Madeleine
Walk in the park close to the Champs d’Elysee
Drive through Bois de Boulogne

Day 2
A look at 19^th century Paris:

Marais walking tour …Mansions, Madame de Sevigne, The Dreyfus Affair
The Carnavalet Museum of the City of Paris…view Proust’s bedroom
The Louvre to visit Proust’s favorite paintings
Tea at the Ritz Hotel (optional not included in tour price). After his mother died, Proust dined at the Ritz almost every day. High tea, about 40 euros.

Day 3

"Tante Leonie House"

Early morning departure for Illiers-Combray. Activities include:

Walk along Meseglise Way or Guermantes way
Tour of "Tante Leonie's House"
Visit the Church
Lunch at Le Florent
Madeleines with reading of that episode

Day 4
Morning: Visit Musee d’Orsay to see the striking portrait of Proust by Jacques-Emile Blanche, a portrait that Proust owned until he died in 1922. We can also have a look at the Manets here, a favorite of Proust.

Lunch at the legendary Laperouse restaurant. Good food and a chance to see their famous private dining rooms, that can be locked. A favorite rendezvous for romantic interludes

Visit Jacquemart Andre Museum, a beautifully preserved 19^th century mansion reflecting the social life of the period. Walk through Parc Monceau, a favorite Proust haunt.

Beach at Cabourg (Balbec)

Day 5

Early morning departure for Cabourg (Balbec). Activities include:

Explore Proust sites: The little train station at Dives, the Trouville boardwalk (matches description of first sightingof girls on the beach), various villas associated with Proust, ancient church and market
Lunch at Grand Hotel plus viewing of room Proust stayed in
Walk around the town, if time allows.

Day 6

Baudelaire and Proust

Day 7
Leave for home or Venice

Cost
$3500 (USD) per person (with the euro at 1.41 as of January 2009). Price includes 6 nights hotel room (single occupancy breakfast included), all activities as outlined in itinerary, 4 primary meals (2 are lunches -- Laperouse in Paris and Le Florent in Illiers-Combray), transportation by private bus as indicated. In Paris, we will also take taxis, 4 people to a cab, shared cost. Price does not include lunches, 3 dinners, alcoholic beverages, wine, coffee stops, transfers to and from airport, airfare to and from your home.

Itinerary and costs will be updated closer to departure date.

If you are extending your tour to Proust in Venice, you would buy your round trip to Paris and from Paris to home.
Round trip Paris to Venice on Easy Jet, an excellent discount airline, flying out of Charles de Gaulle, round trip fare around 100 euros (fare sure to change). As of 12/18 their only flight to Venice leaves in the evening which would necessitate leaving on night six for Venice, not a problem. I am sure there will be a more convenient flight on day 7.
Sounds complicated but isn't. The flight Paris to Venice runs a little over an hour.