Read our interview with Thierry Heil, a guide at Interkultur, a company that offers tours of little-known places in Paris.
After obtaining a master's degree in history and archaeology in England, I worked at the French Institute in London and then taught French for six years at the French high school and through private lessons. I then took an equivalency exam to obtain a bachelor's degree in language sciences with a specialization in FLE (French as a Foreign Language) so that I could teach French as a foreign language.
Those years in England allowed me to learn English.
I then returned to France, where I taught French to foreigners. In addition to teaching, I took part in tours to help foreigners discover Paris and France. These tours allowed me to develop a good knowledge of Paris and meet many people.
I then spent 10 years managing the French branch of a Norwegian company that enabled Norwegian university students to spend a semester abroad during their first year of university. I organized classes and activities such as museum visits, theater evenings, and even excursions throughout France and Europe. I was able to meet future partners and clients and learn about organizing tours, booking buses, etc.
After those 10 years, I passed the CNAM's accreditation of prior learning exam to become a tour guide.
Interkultur is an association founded in 2004 to take charge of all the activities of the Norwegian company (mentioned above) in France, i.e., managing premises, courses, employees, outings, etc.
At the end of this collaboration between the Norwegian company and the association, Interkultur took a new turn and became an SAS (simplified joint stock company) in 2017, headed by Thierry Heil and a partner, then an SARL (limited liability company) in 2020 (due to COVID). Interkultur's goal is to offer tours in Paris and its surroundings for a diverse clientele (foreigners, French, young people, business, luxury).
I've always been passionate about history, architecture, heritage, anecdotes, and discovering hidden places. I enjoy creating new tours, finding new themes, and diversifying the tours I offer.
I try to stay in touch with clients who have been following me for years and with whom I enjoy discovering new places, the "secret Paris". What I like about this job is developing partnerships with places that are usually closed to the public.
Ideas come from experience, encounters, topics that interest us, as well as customer feedback and requests. The main themes we cover at Interkultur are: heritage, history, art, architecture, and French civilization. We also find themes by talking to other guides and professionals to determine whether an idea is interesting or not.
A guide then develops the tour (content, photos, duration, possible interactions, etc.). Once it has been created, it needs to be tested with someone from the team and then with someone outside the team.
To market the tour, we discuss it with Explore Paris to see if they are interested, and then they take care of advertising the tour, putting it online, and selling the available spots.
It therefore takes at least three months from the initial idea to the first tour.
I wouldn't say I have a favorite tour... What I like most is novelty, a tour that will surprise me too! I like tours that are offered infrequently and have an almost unique character, such as when certain private mansions or workshops exceptionally agree to open their doors, allowing us to see places that we won't see again for months or years... We get to discover something new, and that's what I particularly appreciate.
Explore Paris is essential for Interkultur. They put our products online and offer them for sale. The majority of registrations for our tours are made on their website (mainly French customers). They also order many private tours, video conferences, etc. from us.
We have been working together for many years and have developed a relationship of trust. Our partnership grew even stronger during the first lockdown, as I was able to offer them a large number of video conferences starting in March 2020.
