Parijs WO2 De Duitse bezetting Kleine groep of Privétour

Thanks Meghan for your postive comments I really apreciate your compliments about my knowledge and how much you learnt! Thank you And that you are also prepared to give your honest feedback on the tour length I do state on Viator that it is usually between 3hr to 3.5 but I do have a limit of 3,5hrs because after this I feel both my own ability to teach physically and menatally starting to lag plus the abiity of people to take any more infirmation Inreachs overoad Let me just note that for PRIVATE tours, not GROUP I do run longer tours sometimes up to 4hrs but this will usually include us stopping for a drink of course and a chat So It is neither a negative or a positve thing, It depends on the context and what I I am trying to achieve on the tour in those 3plus hours and what expectations the people taking It may have I have had people turn up onsome occssions telling me they thought the tour was 2 hrs, or 2.5hrs so they obviously haven't read the information on Viator So I now I always mention about this at the beggining so I know if anyone has to be finished by a certain time But most importantaly Im glad you thought the tour was great Hearing this makes me happy as my goal Is to educate people not just show them a list of sites and photo ops with 15 minutes of information you can find in a textbook or Wikipedeia! Or to tell a few stories that just confirm simple cliches and tropes that many tours regurgitate So let me be clear my tour is not a sight seeing tour where you just come to take photos and hear a few new stories that though they are Interesting and new still function just to confirm what you already believed or had been told before My tours are meant to challenge peoples existing perspectives and streotypes whilst also also being a lesson In historyt So usually my tours are between 3-3.5 hrs as stated on the Viator site however this Is not a fixed length, I have some tours that do last less than 3 hrs and some that have lasted longer Let me be clear though , I will never force this on people as so many of my previous guests can testify , I leave open the option of going longer than 3 hrs depending on the level of Interest and crucially the type and depth of questions I am being asked on that tour And I I do tend to get asked lots of questions as well that are not always directly related to the subject I am currently explaining I am in a way a victim of my own knowledge and desire to teach the truth and provide new and different perspectives because when people start to realise that a lot of what they thought was true or had been told Is not the they then become very eager to ask me questions about all sorts of subjects related to the occupation even though I may not the time be talking about them, Whicj is great BUT It does take time to answer them properly and thats one reason I have to have some flexibility in tour length Of course this Is kind of Unique but necessary if I am to achieve my aim So I leave some flexibility unlike many other shorter tours with SET times where everything can be rushed a bit to try to keep within a set time limit I don't do that because my aim Is not to complete a tour as part of a business where people on It are just another group of nubers and take peoples money for It them tick It off but Instead to educate them Amd I wont be satisfied unless people have gone away with their questions answered and having learnt the truth As a result on short 2hr tours people do not have things properly explained to them, Its Impossible assumimg the guide even has the depth of knowledge to do so and do not have the chance to really ask questions and have them answered fully On my tours it is different And we can always go to bar or cafe to get a drink and chat too which I something I do quite often with people So my tours certainly may not be for some people they do go into subjects in far more depth than the 2hr photo op tours and people get to ask questions and have them answered properly I also send my guests a lot of additional after . a book list , a google map of the area we walked in with sites marked and Information I have provided plus links to interesting media information Best wishes Chris

Thank you so much Drue It was a pleasure to spend the time with you from start to begginng and I really appreciatte you taking the time to leave this review as well Only around a 3rd of people who tell me they loved the tour end up leaving a review , whereas unfortunatiely 100% of the small minoriity of people who do not waste zero time jumping In here to leave a negtive review and cast untruths which can be disheartening It shows how ludicrous these peoples comments can be to rationalise their own pride , .apparently everything I told one person could have easily been found In a texbook ,, yet you , someone with actual vast knowledge of the period and years of passion for its history who I know has read many many books says you learnt t so much you woudn't have been able to read about in a text book .... !!?? I am also not a large tour conpany and one anonymous guide out of dozens you coud be doing the tour with I am a freelance expert guide so I do everything myself and put a lot of energy and effort into every single tour i do I try to contact every person before so I know the name of EVRYONE on my tours and a little bit of backgroud infomation because I care to know People on my tours are not a reservation number or bar code on a reservation paper to me ,I like to know who they are before and why they want to take the tour I was really Impressed with your knowledge and passion for this subject and eagenrness to learn the TRUE story As I said at the beggining my aim is not to please people on the tour with a simplisitc good guy/ bad guy story though there were plenty of them .... .I'm not there to just tell them some more stories that simply confirm and add to what they already thought they knew and then showing them some buildings just for photo ops No my aim is to increase peoples UNDERSTANDING of what REALLY happened and WHY things happened And this means challenging the long standing and highly pervasive but simplistic and totally Incomplete and unbalanced narratuves that people were taught or hold And this Is NOT for everyone I see people who run 2hr tours and claim not only to tell the story of the occupation but to answer peoples questions about a whole range of subjects ! Trust me they are not It Is IMPOSSIBLE In 2hrs All they are doing is giving people a superficial story that goes along with the simplistic and unbalanced narrative people already had going into the tour about the NAZIS in Paris, the Resistance and the Shoah They just give people MORE of the SAME and people go away feeling good because it always does to have your pr- existing views reinforced by additional new examples and information I do the OPPOSITE my aim if needed which It nearly always Is is to DECONSTUCT the siimplistoic narrtaives many people have been sold and told and the reconstruct It brick by brick with the truth And this Is not for everyone , as It requires people to think and CHANGE the way they saw things which can be unconfortable at the same time as It us fascinating IF you are open to learning If your reading this and just want to hear more of the same of what you read in your Faction books and get some photos of buildings then my tour Is not for you And yes I know this Is why I do get these occosianal wildly out if sync negtive reveiwslike t I received earlier this week I do expect them from time to time and I understand if my tour was not for everyone but they still hurt becasue they always seem to follow the exact same pattern where they just have to go beyond and start misrepresenting what occurred then sadly often end upeven lying So thank you so much just for having an open mind, an open heart and an eagerness and with It humility to learn even though you did have a lot of knowledge about this period yourself It was a pleasure and I am glad I can stay Im touch and send you more information directly as we discussed Best wishes and stay cool!

Thanks for the 3 stars Its better than 1 But what a totally weird and untrue account and once again someone Is manipulating the facts to cover up their OWN mistakes , misunderstanding and unfortunately arrogance First : Could you describe the 'topic at hand?" The subject at "hand " was the Occupation of Paris ? That's the title of the tour right ? Oh hold on , wait .....let's see what actually happened? So I had began the tour by explaining why the area we were In was so Important as It was the centre of the German command of and occupation of Paris I then explained the entry of the German forces into Paris and the establishment of the first German Police and SS head quarters? Correct? And their priority In Paris ? Correct? And then division of France following the armistice a week later and why this happened in the way it did ? Correct? We then moved to another location where we could get a better look at the Paris Opera house which I was about to explain the significance and Its use ,why was it a such an Important building to the Germans during the occupation How that helped us to understand the reason behind their occupation? Correct? So It is at this point you"spoke up " But not in the way you are trying to present It... Let's tell the truth... You spoke up to say quote "Isn't this a tour on the Resistance in Paris "? To which I replied ,no that's not the title of the tour , Its called the occupation of Paris so it's about the ENTIRE occupation of the city Check ? At this point you grimaced and furiously scrolled through your phone to check and then went quiet when you realised I was correct! And you were wrong Ouch Forgot to mention this "little" detail above didn't you when writing about your "speaking up"? and why? You found that hard to swallow and got a little bee under your bonnet Now next please explain how talking about the German entry into the City , the setting up of their Headquarters, the arrival of the SS and Gestapo and then the Importance of one of the most significant buildings nearby to where were to them during the occupation on a tour about "THE OCCUPATION OF PARIS" Is NOT " CONCNTRATED ON THE TOPIC AT HAND IE "THE OCCUPATION OF PARIS "!??? Care to explain? Because I have no idea what your on about unless maybe of course in YOUR head you were struggling to come to terms with the fact you were wrong about the title of the tour and therefore the emphasis of the subject matter? I had spoken about ALL this BEFORE you "spoke up" ( and found out you were wrong a about the tour title ) yet apparently it all had nothing to do with the Occupation of Paris and it was only AFTER you "Spoke up" ,that this changed ?!! ??? What is even MORE Ironic in you saying this is the following nugget that has also evaded your memory... Whilst I was attempting to talk about the "topic at hand " IE the occupation of Paris but wasn't apparently ,YOU were speaking over me to another person who had asked a question about a TV series they should watch about events that took place OUTSIDE of Paris ( certainly NOT the topic at hand ?) and continued to have these off topic at hand conversations THROUGHOUT the tour ! So you accuse me of giving Information that was not on the topic to hand , the OCCUPATION of PARIS whilst actually thinking you were on a DIFFERENT tour only to find out you were wrong and then continued to talk over and under me whilst I tried to talk about the topic at hand , the OCCUPATION of PARIS about things that had nothing at all to do with the OCCUPATION of PARIS or the actual "topic at hand ".....! Is this a joke? Look You made a point of telling me you worked In Tourism and emphasized your own "knowledge" .... And it felt straight from the beginning at that you were there more trying to judge me or catch me out rather than learn or listen to what I was saying talking over me ,and showing other people that YOU actually knew better when you didn't So I don't know what type of tour you expected , after all you openly had to accept you thought you were on a different tour then accuse me of not talking about the actual subject the tour WAS about! With your background and "knowledge" this seems It might have been hard to accept so you then psychologically rationalise your own mistake because of your own pride by projecting it on to me as the culprit and cause by ME not taking about the 'topic hand "... Honestly one thing I have learnt over the years from meeting certain people on tours who are disgruntled after Is It is in reality because they have made a mistake and didn't read the tour information correctly or have come along and projected their OWN Idea of what THEY think the tour SHOULD be about or they just don't Intellectually understand nuances or complex interactions make up this history and just want a photo op tour with a few stories about stereotypes but no actual critical historical analysis And instead of accepting this they try to blame me And I have seen the infinite capacity of these people to rationalise and embellish the truth and leave out conveniently little things that don't fit their narrative and and lose them credibility when they go about blaming me in their "review" Its depressing and as someone who puts so much effort into my tours Into going beyond simple narratives to tell people the TRUTH which IS complicated at times and DOES take time I feel really rock bottom So to finish and I say this 100% honestly.. You obviously know a lot but the tour did not benefit from your knowledge It felt the opposite After you left the tour carried on another 90 mins and honestly the atmosphere changed completely , a cloud lifted and we had a great time I'm sorry to say this but it's true

Hello Annette I'm sorry this was YOUR experience The tour was ovbiously not for YOU Anyone looking at my reviews can see clearly that now and again one of these pops up And I understand I dread It but I get It But come on what Is this evidence of a "Consistent issue" when 95%of my reviews are totally positive and beyond! What did you do scroll through a half dozen reviews out iof 130 + to then try to justify yourself? There a minority of people who my tours just dont suit And you were one of them It seems Its people who are better suited to a photo-op sight seeing tour with a bit of Information on the buildings and a few stories about what happened there, usually the resistance v the bad guys And of course It all seems new to people and they lap It up and think this Is great, I knew it was like this of course but , now I know even BETTER and I'm seeing where it happened But what they are not being told Is that they are wrong in theIr FUNDAMENTAL understanding of the Occupation Where Is easy and thats what you'll get on most tours and thats fine I know because years ago I freelanced for the same companies who run these type of WW2 tours and I know what they are telling people Is totally Incomplete BUT It is EASY to sell and not too hard to do But thats only part of the story and the least Important and I set myself a much harder task on my tours WHY did it happen? IE Do you know that France was NOT meant to be part of Hitlers 3rd Reich and as a result the Nazis had NO plans to deport ANY of Frances Jews when they arrived In June 1940? This meant that many Jews who had fled Paris when the Germans arrived to the South were desperate to RETURN before the end of Sptember 1940? WHO were the occupiers? Really . who were they and what did they really want from France ? IE The Germans In Paris were NOT all Nazis , In fact the Nazis were the minority and they never intended to occupy France in the first place WHO were the RESISTANCE? And who were NOT IE Do you know FRENCH MEN were NOT the majority of the resitance but a minority ? WHO were the Coollaborators? IE Do you know the "Puppet" collaborative French Vichy Government also SHOT nearly 200 people for spying for the GERMANS between 1940 and 1943 and arrested 2000? And held full knowledge of the Alles Engima code breaking but never told the Germans? See how quickly things can get complicated ? Fascinating but complicated You missed a lot of this because you left early and couldnt understand the purpose of the neccessary "General Information that you can get from any text book " apparently I was explaining to people for them to be able to understand all this in CONTEXT You just wanted to see a few buildings , take some pics , hear some cool stories etc And thats fine I do cool stories You missed the best But I do FAR more too So I make sure people on MY tours go away NOT with just more of the SAME Information but completely NEW Information and a NEW understanding of the occupation And IT TAKES TIME to explain So they are not for people who want nothing too deep that really peels the onion and completely challenges the view they had People who just want to have what they already THINK they know confirmed by MORE Information or stories that add to this And people like that would make exactly the same complaint you do because for me to do what I do in my tours means I HAVE to take some time to first UNBUILD or UNRAVEL the false narratives and THEN rebuild the reality and truth And It can seem complicated at first because well It IS , It cannot be explained in just 15 mins My tours are NOT for those people and My tour was obviously not for you They are not about confirming what people already know, or have heard In the often Faction books they have read or films they have watched by adding MORE of the SAME stories Conifrmation Bias So they go away THINKING they have learned more about the Occupation and that It was just as they thought Oh they have , MORE of the SAME but NOT the actual TRUTH of the Occupation Now you coud have just left It there but you couldnt and had to make this claim of evidence of a "Consistent issue" which just actually makes you look non credible To tell people to read the apparent "negative reviews" going back YEARS showing this "consistent" problem and use THEM to form their judgement of my tours in place of 95% of reviews that say something very very different ? You do know what "Consistent "means right? IE Pray tell how MANY of these "Negative reviews going back years " there are that show this "consistent issue"? Anyone who does may see what a LUDCIROUS and contradictory thing this Is to to say How can a tour with a handful of negative reviews and 95% positive and the majority being 5 stars have a "consistent Issue" going back years" thats negative enough for people to give 1 star reveiews? Thats the exact OPPOSITE of "Consistent ",your review and the ones you claim to reference are the EXCPETION Previous reviews very clearly DID reflect the experience of the people on the tour too and on those tours we did pretty much the same as we did on the day you took the tour and they say something very different Why not equalky tell people to go back and read them AS WELL and THEN form their judgement? So what they did was not reflect YOUR experience of the tour which of course Is subjective and dependent on YOUR expectations NOT a CONSISTENT problem, Stop the hyperbole and attempt to create a false narrative to back up YOUR exeptional subjective experience which you are quite entitled to have of course and I am sorry you had You know that one person once gave a 1 star review becasue THEY never turned up for the tour and left me standing in the rain for 20 mins after i had travelled 2 hours in and out of Paris and wanted a refund for example ? Another person gave me a 2 star review because It was apparent they never actually read what the tour content was or how long it may go on claiming It was a 2hr tour in the review I think they may have actually booked the wrong tour One titally vile couple gave me one star review after abusing me for over 2hrs I ran a GROUP tour under numbers just for them , so basically i only got half my fee but they treated It like a Private tour and were disrespectful to me the entire time , cutting me off mid sentence telling me they had a "history degree" as if that Impresses me and already knew what I was telling them when In reality they knew virtually nothing because I questioned them and they didn't actually know the answers And compaining when I simply followed the tour Itnerary THEY had signed up for Thats one reason sinsce I have refused to ever run a group tour under numbers NO WAY So I am sorry this was YOUR very unique experience Let me clear a couple of things up though that are NOT true You didn't leave after 2.5 hrs You left after 2 hrs I dont want to be pedantic but this Is important because the tour was 3.5 hrs that day In total and that day we visted 10 sites if you had stayed but you decided to leave before so missed them Also come on stop being fruity with the truth I hate It when people do this, to use your own words "To gently MISDIRECT " and create a false narrative about me You did not ask "questions" in the plural, you asked ONE question , yes One and that was when we were by the supposed "trash filled fountain" You obviously thought we had spent too long talking about the context and were going to see more "Things" , (which we later did) and wanted to know when we were moving on Thats It To which I replied I understand and we will asap but If I didn't finish explaining the context of Frances place In RELATION to the 3rd Reich , how the Nazis saw It and WHY then when we did later see more things then you wouldn't understand properly the significance of the events that were associated with them That was IT So stop It There was no "multiple questioning" trying to gently redirect me towards the locations and there war time signficance , something I had already done in detrail, making It seem like I was some run away train of mad autocratic professor ignoring you while you martyred yourelf for the group on an alter of "gentle redirection" No you had just lost your attention span because the Information I was giving you was not of the level you expected prehaps , it was In fact far deeper and more complex meaning you just lost interest as you only wanted few basic facts you can get from textbooks ! Most people on my tours actually have little understanding before of what I teach them about the history of the occupation and the real German plans for France Unless you understand these things then you will not understand properly the occupation and WHY certain things happened and certain people behaved the way they did Or you can just look at a bunch of buildings and learn a few thIngs you CAN actually learn from a textbook about them ! Yes thats the ridiculous Irony of what you claim You actually WANTED a tour where we look at buildings and learn things you can learn from a textbook about them But then you compalin that apparently we didn't do this and that most of the commentary was Infirmation that couLd easily be found IN A TEXTBOOK E So its funny how people who dont even know the date Germany Invaded France let alone the date they occupied Paris suddenly turn Into "historical experts" who according to you have basic undertsanding of WW2 history and know better what we shoukd be talking about? The tour is NOT museum tour or sightseeing tour with buildings laid out In a nice chronoloigical pattern There is no one place you can go In Paris and learn the history in a set timeline and in just a few hours , its all OVER the City and NOT in chrnonolgical order So yes I'm afraid i HAVE to jump around the time line as you put It , I'm sorry If you struggle to remember information because for your benefiut in my "disorganistaion" I actually bring 9 folders , yes 9 folders full of maos and photos , plus a whiteboard I write upon tohelp show you this Thus tour Is about the OCCUOPATION OF PARIS AND FRANCE and in my experience 90% of people on my tours have hardlly any understanding of this history and what they do have is often wrong and fueled by sensationalist "Faction books " that can reinforce very simplistic existing narratives because thats what sells books rather than the ACTUAL facts of history and experience of 96% of the French population And I wish they did have more knowledge ,It would make It an easier tour to run properly but the fact is they and you DONT and its my job and my pleasure to educate you properly not give you some self confirming microwave meal version of the Occupoation that enforces the simplistic stereotypes you may have read about in Faction books or been "sold" as the story of the occupation by people running tours who just want to show you abunch of photo ops were the "Nazis" hung out rather than go deeper Into whin these people REALLY were ans what they were REALLY doing here So you have a cheek saying this about me for soemone , and your not the only one because most people dont understand the subject at all really But then they also appreciatte learning this hard to find information and real history I teach and don't come on here after leaving 1 star reveiws claimiig what I told them was general historical Information you can find in a text book !!!! Well if you can so easily , Iand I'd like you to name the text books as well , then how come YOU didn't know any of the following .... The date WW2 began in the West , the date Paris was occupied the difference between the SS and the Army command , the Nazi planned constituition of the 3rd Reich ,that FRANCE was not meant to be part of it ,that the Germans therefore had NO plans to occupy France for more than maybe 6 months Initially or deport ANY of Its Jews and the ideological between the Eastern war and in the west , one a genocide the other a traditional STRATEGIC war , the origins off the Gestapo and range of Its power in France ,the internicine confict between the German Army and the Nazi Militias and Police units trying to operate In France the way the battle for appropriation of cultural capital and art work demonstarted this and the structure and relationship between the French police and the German and Nazi police units m hiw they wroked togther and mire crucially WHY and how this changed over time ?? I could go on and on and on So in your own words For future travellers this may well not be the walking tour YOU expect If you want to REALLY understand the TRUTH about France and the German Occupation during this period understand Its probably NOT what you thought and It Is complicated So if you have a little patience It takes TIME to explain and this requires me to talk more than I would wish for the first hour of the tour but you will I gurantee go away knowing more than 98% of people including the French do about this subject and most people who claim they are "buffs" on the subject If I do not explain this to you then you will NOT learn the truth or understand WHY the building , places, sites we see after In the tour were Important as STAGES for the PEOPLE who made the history and WHY they did the things they did Now if you already know "basic WW2 history" because apparently thats all I communicate or If you just want to look at a bunch of buildings and get a bunch of basic information about what happend there during the occupation but not WHY and the way its ALL connected then feel free join Annette on a different tour or just buy this "textbook" she's on about I have about 100 in the subject and Ive yet to find It Really Annette ibefore you wrote this and exaggerated so much If you were that dissapointed I wish you'd just asked me for a refund, I'd have happily given you one, do you think I want people to go away feeling like you obviously did ? Or that I want to write all this too ? But I have no choice becasue I won't let people misdirect or push a false narratives that are not true and unfortunately I have found THIS a consistent Issue with a handful of people over the years who leave negatiuve reviews just have to try to justify themselves and end up adding their little embelliishments to the story , their little twrils but just dig themselves Into a hole of dishonesty Toodle pip as they say !