Goldenberg Leads Jewish Tours of Paris

For anyone traveling to Paris, Flora Goldenberg, owner of Jewish Tours Paris, is your go-to-expert prepared to customize your experience. Goldenberg has a dedicated team of specialized tour guides and customizes her visitors’ itineraries depending on their wishes to make their trip experiences as memorable as possible.

Goldenberg studied art and history at the Sorbonne University for five years. Fluent in English, she guides visitors from around the world to Paris museums, monuments, and beautiful quarters such as The Louvre, Versailles, Musée d’Orsay, Montmartre, Le Marais (the Jewish Quarter), museums, monuments, neighborhoods and more. She offers themed tours ranging from Jewish tours to World War II tours, French Revolution tours, food and markets as well as day trips from Paris including Versailles, Giverny, Loire Valley, and Normandy.

The Jewish walking tour is one of Goldenberg’s most popular tours, and the combo Jewish Marais/Jewish Louvre as well. She recently added a new exclusive tour at the Grand Synagogue as the only guides allowed to guide there, and the combo Jewish Marais/Grand Synagogue.

Her two-hour visit to experience what’s Jewish about The Louvre and the idea came from her “mum,” who became a tour guide in Israel, and during her training, she was looking for specific paintings she heard of when studying in Israel and realized the painting was in The Louvre. She worked as a guide in Paris for more than 20 years, never knowing it was there and the idea of the Louvre with a Jewish twist was born.

Goldenberg explained, “We designed the tour based on the artifact found in the Middle East and related to the history of Israel, as well as the paintings of French painters who painted the Jewish people in North Africa. I discovered a lot of artwork related to WWII and the art stolen from Jewish families and was also able to build bridges between the art, the history of the Jews in Paris, and how it all related. I was able to find the names of important Jewish donors.”

With enthusiasm, Goldenberg noted, “Every day, I make new discoveries, and The Louvre is full of treasures. I am working on a tour oriented towards the Bible and the stories of the Old Testament in The Louvre, artwork representing certain scenes, as well as the archeological proofs of the Bible.”

Goldenberg was inspired by her mother, also a tour guide in Paris, and she said, “My family lived in Rue des Rosiers, the Pletzl of Paris for more than a century. My mother is a professional tour guide as well, and my inspiration. We share the same passion for Paris, art, and history. I make it my everyday mission to structure a knowledge about the Jewish heritage of Paris we can transmit more easily. I go to The Louvre for physical evidence and artifacts coming from Israel’s kingdom or North Africa, Iran and nearby regions.”

Goldenberg was born and raised in Paris, in Le Marais, and the Jewish Quarter of Paris has always been her home, and she still lives there. Explaining her legacy to Paris, which is etched in history, she shared, “My grandfather was born in Paris and lived in Le Marais with his parents. In WWII, his parents and three sisters were deported. His father had a small shop on Rue des Rosiers, the main Jewish street that my grandfather took over after the war. He opened a Jewish deli on the same street, and it was a big restaurant, where all the Jewish people from different origins liked to enjoy a meal that reminded them of their grandparents, homeland. I have fond memories of the restaurant and my grandfather working there.

“A family business, it felt very much like home. The restaurant was attacked in a terrorist attack in 1982 (I was born in 1988), and I only know it after the attacks. It was always a place that carried a strong symbol of resistance against terrorism and antisemitism. My grandfather was not scared and proud of what he accomplished. He was a very nice and generous man and liked to share stories with his guests and create memories for them.”

On Goldenberg’s Jewish Tour of Le Marais while walking in the paved cobblestone narrow streets of Le Marais, located in the heart of Paris, the “Pletzl,” you’ll learn it has been the center of Jewish life in Paris since the 13th century. Located on the right bank of the Seine, in the third and fourth arrondissements in Paris, in the center of Paris, near the Ile de la Cité (where Notre Dame was built and the city of Paris was born). You will find the 17th century private mansions and hidden gardens transformed into apartments, museums, art galleries, shops, cultural centers, and more.

Flora also organizes visits inside the beautiful synagogues of the neighborhood with the help of her local Jewish community and a visit of the Holocaust memorial to Paris. Learn about the history of the Jewish communities in Paris for more than 2,000 years with Goldenberg or one of her highly experienced experts such as Livia or Melanie who are extremely well-versed and knowledgeable. From the Jews in the Middle Ages, when persecuted and expelled from the country in 1394, to the French Revolution and the occupation of Paris during WWII, discover places that a local knows about.

Goldenberg added, “Since Marais became a very trendy neighborhood, it has some of the best shopping, most delicious and unique gourmet shops. I enjoy the atmosphere of the old Paris in the Marais, with its royal square Place des Vosges. You will find a synagogue and the Chabad, pastry chef’s boutiques, the Picasso Museum and more.”

Regarding booking a tour, Goldenberg said, “Book in advance, especially for the high season (between March until the end of October and during holidays).” For more information contact Jewish Tours Paris and visit https://jewish-paris-tours.com/ or Instagram @jewish_quarter_paris or Trip Advisor at https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Attraction_Review-g187147-d7121609-Reviews-Jewish_Tours_in_Paris-Paris_Ile_de_France.html.