Haute Couture Tour of Paris and Rome

The fascinating city of Rome spans millennia showcasing the beauty and prestige of ancient cultures, medieval aristocracy, Renaissance artists, and contemporary boutiques. Your flight lands at Fiumicino Airport, where your private transfer greets you upon arrival. The marvels featured on Rome’s street act like an open-air museum but only scratch the surface of the vibrancy hidden within the depths of contemporary and historic culture enriching Italy’s capital city and the former heart of the Roman Empire. Your introduction to Rome begins before sunset at the famous towering walls of the Colosseum.

The Flavian Amphitheater is the largest surviving structure from ancient Rome with construction beginning on the site in 72 AD. The name “Colosseum,” carries over from the former colossal statue of Nero that once stood outside the entrance. The exterior walls reach over 187 feet tall and once glinted with paved marble clamped together with iron instead of mortar. The stunning interior could hold up to 50,000 spectators with the fashionable aristocracy holding the best seats in the stadium. The floor is now opened offering a view into the hypogeum, the two-story labyrinth set beneath the main floor where gladiators trained and a system of pullies and levers brought wild animals onto the stage.

In the morning, the sunlight washes over the gorgeous Baroque Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. Bernini fashioned four men as allegories to the world’s main river sources known in the 17th century, which continues to draw crowds including artists eager to catch the piazza in the perfect light. You set out with a private guide through the best shopping streets of Rome, wandering along the cobblestone lanes near Piazza Navona, Campo de’ Fiori, and the Spanish Steps where the best local shops hide. Stroll down the Via Condotti, which is the street considered the Rodeo Drive of Rome.

Shops like Cartier, Bulgari, and Jimmy Choo provide remarkable window displays with staff waiting to attend to your interest in the mixture of local and international fashion inside the boutique. For a more intimate and authentically Roman experience, you venture to the Monti neighborhood, known for its concentration of creative and stylish independent shops around Via dei Serpenti and Via Urbana. You enter a bohemian boutique known for making artisanal handcrafted clothes with high-quality fabrics. The elegant displays show a range of styles and aesthetics consisting of kimono tops and fitted blazers, summer dresses to pants made from punchy prints.

The measure of Rome’s fashion ventures beyond the borders of the historic city center into the outskirts of the metropolis at Castel Romano Designer Outlet. Located less than 17 miles outside of the city center, Castel Romano hosts over 140 Italian and international designer brands including Valentino, Robert Cavalli, Nike, and Michael Kors. The drive to the outlets is stress-free and enjoyable passing through verdant countryside and lush hills. The landscape of Lazio on the outskirts of Rome has inspired artists, architects, and stylists for over 2,000 years making it a fitting location to host the fashionable designer outlets. The ambiance is carefree and luxurious. Stores contain opulent window displays, attentive staff, and prices noticeably between 30 to 70 percent off retail. The aroma of coffee filters through the open walkways as the water from the fountain splashes into a shallow pool for a casual, soothing soundtrack to your premier shopping experience.

To design a new fashion line, designers and stylists must first find inspiration in the world around them. In the morning, the scent of fresh espresso blends with the sweet aroma of freshly baked cornetti. You meet a local artist famous for painting magnificent mixtures of life and landscape after acquiring a taste for the details hidden in the surrounding world. Your guide welcomes you with a warm and inviting smile before you sit down in her studio collaboration on sketches combining the brilliance of artistic aesthetic with the fluid motion of fabric in a three-dimensional world.

You have a brief lesson in drawing to learn more specific details needed to shape the garment to your personal idea. Within a few hours, your sketch becomes a credible and incredible garment drawn on silk. While not ready for the runway just yet, you have followed in the footsteps of the greatest fashion designers before you by taking inspiration from the fountains, statues, colors, and architecture of Rome to fashion something new and exciting easily turned into a dress or wrap, shirt or jacket.

The highlights of Rome have captured your imagination but the fashion of Rome has captured your heart. Today you blend the two showcasing the new wardrobe you have collected during your time in the Eternal City around the celebrated highlights of Rome during a private photo shoot. Your guide leads you through what has become the familiar cobbled lanes and mixture of medieval and Renaissance facades winding through the historic city center. You reach the Trevi Fountain early in the morning beating the crowds at one of the most coveted artistic monuments.

The fountain was crafted in the 17th century and remains the city’s largest. The Agrippa aqueduct first constructed in the 1st century BC continues to fill the elegant, rippling pool beneath the stoic watch of the sea god Oceanus. The candid shots of you marveling at the artwork accentuate the new outfit perfect for your European tour showing sophistication and style. You also get a shot of the iconic scene of standing with your back to the fountain throwing a coin over your shoulder into the pool. The coin splashes into the water in a tradition assuring your return to Rome.

At breakfast, the aroma of fresh espresso once again fills the dining room. You sip on a frothy cappuccino dusted with cocoa powder for a pleasant mixture of sweet and bitter. Your private transfer greets you in the hotel lobby after breakfast and escorts you to Fiumicino Airport for your flight to Paris. The brief plane ride lands at Charles de Gaulle Airport where you follow your private escort into the heart of the City of Lights and the emblematic city of world fashion.

Paris easily romances you with a majestic ambiance emanating from legendary artists on the Left bank and in Montmartre, the aroma of buttery croissants from the boulangeries, and elegant styles on display in windows of local boutique shops. You indulge in the introduction to Paris by strolling along the charming cobblestone streets and the tree-lined boulevards passing brasseries built during the Belle Époque. You reach the Jewel of the Middle Ages known as Saint-Chapelle. The High Gothic architecture reflects the central aesthetic of 13th century France accentuated by the exquisite stained-glass windows.

The iridescent glow shapes the tranquil ambiance inside the chapel emphasized by the soothing aroma of frankincense. The altar at the front of the chapel displays the Crown of Thorns relic acquired from the former Byzantine Emperor in the 1240s. While not often used for mass, the chapel is a sensational concert venue where classical music echoes in the cavernous space for a heavenly experience. In the evening, you board a barge on the renowned River Seine. The elegant atmosphere highlights the marvels of the City of Lights with illuminated streets crowned by the towering glowing figure of the Eiffel Tower.

As an icon of international style, Paris hosts a prestigious history of fashion inspiring luxury clothing and boutique shops, emblematic designers, and students eager to make their mark on the business. Before the modern trends of contemporary style hit the shops of Paris, fashion history began in the late 18th century. Your guide meets you at the hotel eager to lead you through the aromas of foamy cappuccinos the chocolate brioche finding the covered passageways home to Paris’ first shopping center. The charming Passage des Panoramas was erected in 1799 as Paris’ first arcade. The two rotundas add dynamic light into halls and also make a mark on the city’s skyline. The expansion of the city took away the former boutiques of lining the tiled walkway replacing them with friendly cafes, restaurants, and unusual craft shops.

The Neo-Baroque architecture of the Palais Garnier Opera House reflects the importance of style in the late 19th century. Eight sculpted figures represent allegories of poetry, music, idyll, recitation, song, drama, and dance important to the opera and the aristocracy patronizing the arts. The opera acted as a setting for men and women to see and be seen in lavish garments attempting to look as exquisite as the architectural grandeur of the opera. A ceiling painting by Chagall adorns the auditorium above the plush red and gold hues draping the floors and walls for a ravishing effect matched only by the couture fashion gracing the theater during the opera season.

Experience the lavish beauty of Paris during the time spent with a personal shopper. The boutique shops of the City of Light open a barrage of new styles fitted fashionable wears, and exclusive collections you could have never imagined finding if exploring the city on your own. The Belle Époque opulence of the department store Galerie Lafayette embodies the way French fashion is a world onto itself offering designer collections, gourmet cuisine, and a labyrinth of custom jewelry inside what is known as a grand magasin. The eclectic and high-fashion district of the Maria blends vintage style and artisan craftsmanship, antique splendor and fine art intermixed with shops providing tea, chocolate, and gourmet cuisine.

You enter a shop celebrated for its cozy ambiance blending bright light, comfortable couches, and avant-garde wallpaper brimming with limitless exclusive garments dedicated to incredible design. You continue to a parfumerie to learn more about the art of aromatics in the French tradition. The classic store Guerlain opened in 1828 and has since grown into a world-renowned brand offering elegant signature scents. You enter a smaller store and meet a guide interested in teaching you the intricate and complex combinations of crafting the perfect perfume for you. The mysteries of aromas and the types of scents complementing one another are unlocked as you blend the unique oils accentuating your personal enticing fragrance.

In the morning, you notice the artistry of Paris comprises the intimate layers of the city from the brilliant facades of the 19th-century palaces to the stunning window displays of chocolates. After breakfast, you travel to the celebrated Vallée Village, an outdoor outlet center with boutiques including Armani, Coach, Voltaire, and Sonia Rykiel offering reduced prices. The center replicates a charming French village but exudes glamour and design from the marvelous window displays and endless collection of men and women wearing elaborate garments. Relish in the carefree ambiance accentuated by gourmet restaurants a design lover’s paradise.

Upon returning to central Paris, your personal photographer captures the captivating city aglow with light. Find your favorite garment from your time in Paris and venture out to the memorable monuments for an unparalleled photoshoot. The Eiffel Tower is symbolic of Paris and greater France. The monument was erected in the 19th century as the getaway to World’s Fair located on the Champs de Mars. There are few better ways to commemorate your time immersed in the blissful fashion of Paris than with the perfect shot of you in one of the new designer pieces framed by the splendor of the Eiffel Tower.

The Notre-Dame Cathedral makes a stunning impression on visitors from around the world. The majestic architecture took nearly 200 years to complete resulting in a blend of Gothic designs and complex detail. Flying buttresses date back to the 13th century, and gargoyles adorn the balconies, roofs, and spires as water spouts. The fresh sun pierces the stained-glass windows filling the graceful interior with colorful light. Your private transfer greets you at the hotel after breakfast and escorts you to Charles de Gaulle Airport for your flight home taking with you the European style emblematic of Rome and Paris.