©Monte Cristo Castle Guided Tour|Office de Tourisme Saint Germain Boucles de Seine-Joel Damase

Discovering Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the surrounding area with guide-lecturers from the Tourist Office

In the heart of the Île-de-France region, Saint Germain Boucles de Seine is brimming with historical and cultural treasures that deserve to be explored with passion and expertise. This is precisely the role of the guide-lecturers at the Saint Germain Boucles de Seine Tourist Office: to reveal the secrets of the past while offering a lively and enriching vision of the local heritage.

These professionals, true ambassadors for the area, share their in-depth knowledge of emblematic sites such as the sumptuous Château de Monte Cristo, home of Alexandre Dumas, or the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale, which plunges visitors into the heart of history from prehistory to antiquity. Thanks to their expertise and enthusiasm, these guides help visitors to understand the importance of these sites, but also to experience them to the full. Whether strolling through the château’s gardens or contemplating the museum’s exceptional collections, each visit becomes both a historical and human adventure, paying tribute to the richness of this exceptional territory.

Angeline Perrin

Becoming a guide was an obvious choice in my final year.

I was looking for a profession where I could combine history, the practice of a foreign language but above all exchange and pass on! After ten years of guiding, it’s still the right choice. The best compliment anyone can pay me is “you’re passionate and exciting”. For me, the most important thing is to link the big story with the little ones and the juicy anecdotes, but above all with a touch of humour. It’s perfectly possible to discover a site or a town while having a great time. My favourite period is the second half of the 19th century and mainly Impressionism.

You can follow me on visits to the towns of Saint Germain en Laye, the Château de Monte Cristo or Impressionist sites such as Louveciennes, Croissy or Hameau Fournaise but also on the Seine on a cruise.

One of my favourite anecdotes at the Château de Monte Cristo: Alexandre Dumas is said to have invited around fifty people to his house-warming party, but more than 300 are said to have been in attendance!

Béatrice Montfort

With a degree in history and a diploma from the Ecole du Louvre in my pocket, I was initially responsible for cultural mediation for ten years at the Musée du Domaine Royal de Marly. Then I devoted myself to helping people discover the extraordinary cultural heritage of the loops of the Seine, as a guide and lecturer. What drives me most of all? Exchanging and sharing with visitors.

My favourite theme? People, of course!

Behind the man of letters, the painter, the sculptor or the architect, hides a man or a woman. Guessing who they were, what motivated them, discovering their weaknesses and strengths, their era, helps us better understand their work. So, to the question “Why did you want to become a tour guide?”, I would answer that it’s because it’s an exciting profession to “pass on”, certainly knowledge but also emotions.

Catherine Marie

I would like to introduce myself: Catherine MARIE.

I was born in Paris. After my studies at La Sorbonne, I became a German teacher. Later, I came to live in

Saint-Germain-en-Laye where I started a family. Passionate about history and charmed by the rich history of this ‘royal’ town, I took the competitive examination to become a guide-lecturer. My favourite subjects? The château and its archaeology museum, the Sun King (“Reines and Favourites”), the historic districts and their town houses, the Apothecary’s and the history of medicine, the Prieuré museum and Claude Debussy’s birthplace, not forgetting the cultural walk “One for all, all for one, in the footsteps of Alexandre Dumas”.

Elisabeth Frachon

Intermittent in show business from 10 to 20 years (opera, cinema, singing, dancing, extras), I studied History and English (Nottingham University) and Political Science (I.E.P.), and I’m also a guide-interpreter for river and sea cruises (Mediterranean and Rhône). Overseas : Air navigation and English teacher (CAPES),

then in Ile de France, after the Ecole du Louvre, out of a taste for historical research, immediate adaptation and transmission to different ages, backgrounds, nationalities, I guided groups in St-Germain-en-Laye, Versailles, Paris, Marly, Montmorency, Louveciennes etc….,

and given talks on a wide range of themes from prehistory to the 20th century, from historical gastronomy or medicine, to figures such as Dumas, the great kings, the Princess Palatine, the Vera Brothers, Caravaggio, Rubens, Debussy, Madame du Barry, Churchill, Beaumarchais and many others….

and always with pleasure.

Irène Gintzburger

Alexandre Dumas and the estate of Monte Cristo became a passion from my first visit, a few decades ago.

At the time, the château was unfurnished, the grounds were in a sad state of repair, but the magic was definitely there.

My aim is to introduce people to Dumas and his work; to see children’s eyes shine with enthusiasm, to captivate the attention of adults, to share my passion.

Jenny Dupuis

After teaching at the Université Paris-Est for a few years, I qualified as a National Tour Guide. Then I worked for ten years at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris as a teacher and guide. Now retired, I still work for the Tourist Office in Saint Germain en Laye. I love the town’s international history, its links with the French and Scottish royal families and the wealth of green spaces that surround it.

Today I give tours of St Germain Royal, the park and the Château Vieux, the Maurice Denis and Debussy museums and finally the Désert de Retz at Chambourcy. For Heritage Days I was lucky enough to present the Royal Apothecary’s and “The Escamander, the work of Jérôme Bosch.

I often quote Colette about the Désert de Retz, but a quote that can be applied to other historic monuments in Saint Germain-e-Laye. In her book “En Pays Connu” she wrote, “A little more time and the Désert de Retz will be no more than a poem in the image of an era. But isn’t it already beautiful that a poem can be saved from an era?”

Today, thanks to the work of architects, historians, the Tourist Office and the budgets allocated, the major monuments in St Germain-en-Laye have found or are in the process of finding the sparkle of another era. That’s why it’s a real pleasure to work as a guide to help visitors from all over the world discover our town.

Laure Girard

A lecturer since 1990, I first started working in Versailles. But curiosity and encounters enabled me to extend my field of action to Paris and the Ile de France region. In Saint Germain and the surrounding area I find everything that fascinates me, the gardens, the parks, the châteaux, the villages…

My great pleasure is to introduce visitors to the Impressionists by taking a cruise on the Seine, to evoke the vanished château of Marly through its museum and park and to rediscover Alexandre Dumas in his earthly paradise of Monte Cristo.

Marie-Agnès Renaud

“All roads lead to Rome”, goes the proverb … Mine led me from diplomas at Sciences Po Paris and the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, after a period of maternal activity (…), to a degree in art history and archaeology.

It is this latter training that has prevailed over the others since, in addition to cycles of lectures in art history in associative and university structures, I have for a long time been leading tours as a lecturer in cultural venues and in the museums of our rich and beautiful heritage. My favourite sites are the museum and park of the royal estate of Marly and the prestige of royal art, the Château de Monte Cristo and the happy nature of its owner Alexandre Dumas, Madame du Barry’s château and the last fires of the Ancien Régime, but also, among others, the Impressionist walks – in the Fournaise hamlet, in Louveciennes, in Marly le Roi – and the André Derain house… A kindergarten child asked me during a class visit to the Marly museum: “Were you there with Louis XIV? “. No – not quite! But there you go: revisiting history and bringing it to life to better understand the present?

Why take a tour With a guide?

When you hire a tour guide, you benefit from a lively, structured visit enriched by in-depth historical and cultural expertise. Thanks to their knowledge, their sense of narrative and their ability to adapt to their audience, they transform each discovery into a real experience, while contributing to the enhancement and transmission of heritage.

The Tourist Office works with around fifteen guide-lecturers to offer you a varied and comprehensive range of tours and circuits. Don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more.

Guided tours for groups

Marlène Groult

A graduate of Paris-Sorbonne University with a master’s degree in art history and heritage, specialising in modern and contemporary architecture, I favour cross-fertilisation between different artistic fields. Our culture is nourished by multiple influences present in the different arts.

I like to call on everyone’s references, exchange, interaction that lead others to look at a work of art from a new angle. You have to break down the barriers between artistic fields for a total dialogue, that’s what’s most important in the way of transmitting Culture for me.

With the Tourist Office I work mainly on the wonderful site of the Château de Monte-Cristo, where its legendary owner, Alexandre Dumas, is present in every nook and cranny of the romance park. As a devotee of his writings, it was only natural for me to help people discover this enchanting place that many people don’t know about, revealing a very endearing man.

Marouane Ouled-Amor

Even as a child, I dreamed of being a guide, because ever since I was very young I’ve had a passion for French history. After studying History at the Sorbonne and working as a History-Geography teacher, I finally returned to my childhood dream of becoming a guide.

Since starting my career in 2014, I’ve been working for the Saint-Germain-Boucles-de-Seine Tourist Office.

Life-long fascination with the kings who made France, the royal towns of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Marly-le-Roi with their museums are places I particularly cherish and it’s an honour for me to give tours there. I never tire of pointing out the exact birthplace of Louis XIV in Saint-Germain and recounting the sometimes surprising circumstances surrounding his birth. The Sun King was indeed a Saint-Germanois and, as he himself said, he made Marly for his friends.

Martine Anstett

I chose to become a tour guide after studying History and Urban Geography because of my love of human contact and, above all, because I’ve always believed that beautiful things are made to be shared! My aim is to give you a chance to get away from it all for a visit, a walk together or a video conference, by adapting to your needs and expectations!

I love showing you the banks of the Seine from the river, and never hesitate to point out the different birds you come across and introduce them, because a visit isn’t just about historical monuments, nature and life too (especially…) have their place!

Max Vandenhende

Ex-employee of Air France, a lifelong history buff, keen traveller, songwriter and comedian, I graduated from the CNAM in December 2017 with a Professional Licence as a guide/lecturer. The choice of the heart, of enthusiasm for this culturally and humanly wonderful activity.

I offer tours of the village of Carrières-sur-Seine and its limestone quarry “Carrara City”. A fascinating journey through time, from the 12th century to the present day, and amazing characters like Abbé Borreau, who will offer his life to save 2 others. But why? Where? When? How? So much to discover, follow me…

Chantal Garet

A little girl’s curiosity about a castle that seemed to have been abandoned led me later to write a thesis on it, it was “Monte Cristo”.

The crush never faded, a degree in art and a diploma in lecturing later, I made the castle my own, and Alexandre Dumas became a friend of mine.Other places followed and how lucky I was to be in the shadow of two great royal castles, Versailles and Saint Germain en Laye. But small châteaux and small museums have a special charm for me. Each group is a story and an adventure. But what a pleasure, from stage to stage, through the grounds of Madame du Barry’s Château to discover the history of the place and bring the characters back to life.

These men and women have a life and a soul, they belong to the Great History. At the end of a visit, a lady, with great kindness, said to me: “Thank you Madame for this moment of timeless happiness and thank you for having taught me so many things. I also feel like I’ve been invited to Madame Du Barry’s home and met her. Please be so kind as to thank the owners on my behalf for allowing me these moments.”

Svetlana Bertrand

Guide? Much more than a job, it’s a real passion for me!

After my studies, I wanted to become a guide-interpreter to combine my love of art, history and languages. In fact, I speak Russian and English. Today, as a tour guide, I still enjoy taking visitors on a journey through time and place: from the Désert de Retz to the Musée du domaine Royal de Marly, from Saint Germain to Fourqueux or Port-Marly, following in the footsteps of Louis XIV , Derain or Debussy.

And don’t forget the children, through school events and storytelling tours… I particularly enjoy introducing visitors to the marvellous Château de Monte-Cristo, an enchanted place where you can expect our beloved Alexandre Dumas to pop up at any moment.

Rémy Delapierre

The diversity of Saint-Germain-en-Laye’s heritage enables him to tackle a variety of themes and periods, in front of an often knowledgeable and stimulating audience with whom he arouses amazement and complicity. Rémy is a graduate of a grande école and speaks English, German and Japanese in addition to French, his mother tongue.

Rémy offers tours of the historic districts, the MAN, the Claude Debussy Museum, the Espace Paul et André Véra, the Maurice Denis Museum, the national estate and terraces, the Château de Monte Cristo, Marly le Roi (its estate and town). + the escamotor. Rémy offers running tours for individuals or small groups. As an amateur pianist, Rémy is delighted to present and have heard Debussy’s work in his native house, he who played “Children’s Corner” as a child.

Rémy particularly enjoys revealing the secrets of the great terrace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, unravelling its optical illusions in front of his dazzled visitors.