Courtesans of Paris Glamour and Scandal Private Tour

Overview

During this two-hour walk, we will explore the remarkable and scandalous lives of Paris's most legendary courtesans. Along the way, we learn how to tell a courtesan from a lorette, a grisette, and even a soubrette, and uncover the social worlds that separated them. We trace how Esther Lachmann, a girl from Moscow, reinvented herself as the dazzling Marquise de Païva, and revisit the woman who captivated Alexandre Dumas fils and became the inspiration for The Lady of the Camellias. We also ask one of the tour’s most unexpected questions: did France ever have a real courtesan turned resistance fighter, and what connection did she have to brothels? The walk also touches on the secret love affairs of President Félix Faure which ended in spectacular scandal, and leads us to the neighborhood where the woman who inspired Zola’s Nana once lived. This is a story of ambition, reinvention, desire, and survival in the shadows and salons of Paris.