Our Story

In 2002, our founder Ellen McBreen was teaching art history in the galleries of the Louvre for the American University of Paris. When museum visitors joined in on her classes, voilà, the idea for Paris Muse was born. For over two decades, we’ve stayed true to how we started. We recreate the best part of a university experience: spending time with an expert who sparks your passion and curiosity for new ideas.

All of our guides can do that, because they’re experienced teachers who want to make meaningful connections with people. They have advanced degrees in the areas of their expertise. They are scholars, writers, professors, curators, and artists. In other words, lifelong learners.

We spend months on collaborative research developing our tour programs, so we’re confident they’re the best in Paris. For our family tours, we’ve created our own educational materials to engage your children and create lasting memories. Since we were founded by a teacher, our mission has always been about sharing understanding, not anecdotes.

Our customer service is built on the idea that the world is complicated, and travel is too. Was your flight canceled? Running late for your tour? When you call us, you’ll get an actual compassionate person, offering actual help.

In an age of over-packaged travel designed for big, anonymous groups and maximum profit, our mission is to provide an authentic educational experience tailored to the individual. We want to keep being the company whose clients tell us that we were the highlight of their Paris visit.

It may sound ambitious, but our goal is to help visitors discover Paris in a way that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. We’ve grown a lot since 2002, but we’ve kept to the core of our mission: inspiring travelers one guest at a time.