“Her Tailored Tours Make Paris a Perfect Fit”
—The New York Times
Cou-Tours™
This is not a tour.
Ceci n’est pas un tour*.
Storytelling with distinctive wit, perspective, and rare access, Anya Firestone designs and hosts Cou-Tours™—personally tailored journeys through Paris that reveal the interconnections between French heritage and contemporary culture (fashion! architecture! design! politics!) that are as entertaining as they are educational and.
Nationally licensed by the French Ministry of Culture, Firestone has become the go-to Paris expert to engage culturally curious travelers, celebrities, heads-of-state, VICs, and global companies hosting clients or leadership gatherings in the city.
*A reference to René Magritte’s Surrealist work, Ceci n’est pas une pipe (“This is not a pipe”), which reminds us that what we see is not the object itself, but its representation. To learn more, please inquire about booking a Cou-Tour. 
“Her angle is to take art off the wall to show its intersection with things that people already enjoy and consume…be it champagne or Schiaparelli or N.F.T.s. Recent and upcoming tours have been designed for drag queens, the crypto team at a Venture Capital firm, ‘Eloise-like’ little girls, and a man who is blind.”
The Cou-Tour Way
Made-to-Measure
Its personal. Each visit is conceived as couture — made to measure, guided by your taste, and tailored to the cadence of your stay.
A Thematic Twist
Each Cou-Tour may be conceived as a sweeping introduction to Paris or shaped around a distinct theme of your choosing, revealing how art and heritage can be understood through virtually any field of interest.
Storytelling via Art
Art is approached not as isolated objects, but as chapters within a larger narrative. Anya constructs each experience around an idea and moves through museums and the city accordingly, allowing works of art to illuminate the forces that shaped them.
Accessible
A Cou-Tour can be thoughtfully tailored to accommodate wheelchairs, walkers, strollers, and a range of vision, hearing, or mobility considerations, ensuring that each guest may experience Paris with comfort.
Cou-Tour™ Samples
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Girl Power | The Evolution of Women in Art History & France
Tracing female power in French cultural history, from the enduring ideal of the Venus de Milo to the bold independence of Colette and the theatrical force of Sarah Bernhardt. Through art, fashion, and historic sites, the experience explores how women and art have evolved together across centuries.
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Paris: So Surreal!
A specialist in the Surrealist movement, Anya will take guests across the history of what started the whimsical and philosophical movement in 1924, touching upon art, literature, and fashion, with stops including the Dali Museum and a Private dinner after hours in the original Schiaparelli showroom.
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History & Hype: An Intro to Paris
A foundational Cou-Tour spanning from the ancient world to the 19th century, featuring the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. Encounter the masterpieces not to be missed while uncovering equally significant hidden works. The experience places artistic “hype” in context, revealing how certain icons achieved global fame and why lesser-known treasures are often just as essential to understanding Paris’s cultural legacy.
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Dress to Impress-ionism
Explore how political change in the 19th century reshaped France’s social structures and consumer expectations, shifting fashion from an artisanal, bespoke couture system serving a narrow elite toward a market for standardized, more affordable garments: the birth of ready-to-wear. Explore this concept in the Musée d’Orsay, following with a visit to a private apartment in one of Paris’s most renowned department stores.
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Paris Through the Pages
Follow the famed writers of Paris—from the 19th century French authors including Baudelaire, Huysmans, and Zola, to the American Lost-Generation of Stein, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald. Understand how art history and literature have evolved together while discovering hidden libraries, bookshops, collections, and the art of the book.
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The Art of Menswear
Led by Anya and her partner Matthieu, a specialist in menswear and styling, guests will explore the history of menswear, from the Louvre to modern tailors. Learning about Paris’s major influence on fashion, the visit includes a behind the scenes exploration of some of the city’s most esteemed tailors.
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The Felines of French History
A thematic Cou-Tour tracing the power of the cat from its sacred role in ancient Egypt to its 19th-century associations with sex, mystery, and modernity in French art and literature. The journey culminates on Place Vendôme, where leopard and feline motifs evolved into enduring emblems of fashion and high jewelry, explored through private visits within Paris’s great maisons.
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Queens of France: From Versailles to Drag
A Cou-Tour tracing the evolution of queenship in France — from Marie de Medici and Marie Antoinette to the commanding drag performers of Montmartre who reign today. Through art, spectacle, and style, the experience explores how power, femininity, and performance have been staged and reimagined across centuries, with particular attention to queer art and culture in Paris. A royal journey unfolds over one or multiple days, revealing the jewels, ceremony, and cultural theater of queens past and present.
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![The Art of Well Being]()
The Art of Well-Being
Discover how health, wellness, sports, and art have had a shared relationship since antiquity. This rare visit includes a private yoga session in a museum all to yourself…
To Inspire Your Next Trip…
Sample Itinerary
The Louvre's History of Heists: Jewels, Power & Hidden Gems
A private VIP cultural experience exploring how jewels have shaped power, politics, and Paris—from antiquity to modern fashion —while uncovering the Louvre's extraordinary history of theft, wartime looting, and France's missing treasures.
Morning | The Louvre — Jewels, Power & Missing Masterpieces
With direct VIP access, explore the Louvre through the lens of hidden gems, discovering how adornment became a symbol of authority across civilizations. As we move through archaeology, painting, and sculpture, we'll uncover the museum's hidden secrets, famous thefts, and the larger question of how art, empire, and sometimes looted goods themselves have shaped museum collections.
Lunch | The Ritz Paris, Place Vendôme
Over lunch at the Ritz Paris, discover the hotel's surprising connections to the world of fine jewelry and its role during the German occupation, while enjoying the historic heart of Place Vendôme.
Afternoon | Private Heritage Salons of Napoleon's Jeweler
Step inside the historic salons of Napoleon's jeweler for exclusive access to rare archives and spaces closed to the public. Discover how imperial commissions shaped French jewelry and how that legacy continues to inspire contemporary design today.
Finale | Jewels Reimagined Through Couture
Conclude with an exclusive visit to Schiaparelli's private couture collection, where historic stollen jewels live on as inspiration for some of fashion's most extraordinary creations.
Request a Cou-Tour
Cou-Tours™, Talks, & Cultural Programs for Companies & Brands
In addition to private visits for travelers, Cou-Tours are also commissioned by companies hosting leadership retreats, clients, and gatherings in Paris. Anya has created experiences for the teams and clients of a range of companies— from venture capital firms to luxury houses, including Andreessen Horowitz A16Z, AirBNB, Schiaparelli, Sotheby’s, Moet Hennessy, LOEWE, amongst others.
