Art Fair Chauffeur in Paris — Grand Palais, Art Basel Paris and Paris Photo

Since its restoration, the Grand Palais is once again the centre of the Paris art calendar: Art Basel Paris fills the Nave in October, Paris Photo follows in November, and Art Paris opens the spring season. Around each fair, the city runs on a tight circuit of previews, gallery openings, private viewings and dinners in the 8th. A chauffeur booked by the hour lets you move between them without hailing, parking or waiting in the rain — the car is simply there when you step out.

We collect international collectors from CDG, Orly or Le Bourget, keep a chauffeur by the hour for the whole circuit, and cover galas and openings through our event service. Our base is on the Champs-Élysées, ten minutes from the Grand Palais, which is why we can position a car in the 8th arrondissement at short notice even during preview days.

Getting to the Grand Palais during a fair — what actually happens

The Grand Palais sits between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, with its main entrance on avenue Winston-Churchill facing the Petit Palais and a second access along Cours-la-Reine on the river side. On preview days the avenue is usually filtered or closed to traffic, and the square in front fills with taxis, shuttles and delivery vans. Our chauffeurs handle it the same way every time: they drop you at the closest point allowed that morning — the avenue itself when open, otherwise place Clemenceau or avenue du Général-Eisenhower — walk you to the queue if you wish, then move the car to a legal waiting spot rather than circling.

Timing matters more than distance. From the hotels of the 8th (rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, avenue Montaigne, place de la Concorde) the drive is five to ten minutes, but at 11 am on a VIP day it can take twenty because of the drop-off queue. We therefore suggest leaving fifteen minutes earlier than you would on an ordinary day, or being dropped on the Cours-la-Reine side, which frees up faster. In the evening, when the fair closes and everyone leaves at once, your chauffeur waits on the Seine side and you message him when you reach the exit.

Carrying a work home — accompanied transport in a van

Collectors often ask whether the chauffeur can take a piece they have just acquired. For small and medium formats, yes: a Business Van with the rear seats folded takes a wrapped canvas, a framed photograph or a boxed sculpture laid flat or wedged upright, with blankets and straps on board. The rule is simple — it is accompanied transport, the work stays with you. The chauffeur does not carry a work alone, does not leave it in a parked car and does not sign for it on your behalf. You travel with it from the gallery to your hotel, your apartment or your framer, and it is handed over in your presence.

For large formats, crated pieces, customs paperwork or anything that must be insured in transit, your gallery's fine-art shipper remains the right partner.

For galleries, advisors and auction houses

Exhibiting galleries book us for the practical side of a fair: an artist to collect at the airport, a director shuttling between the booth and the gallery, a journalist to bring to a lunch, a client to return to the Bristol or the Crillon after dinner. Everything runs on one corporate account with an itemised invoice per fair, per month or per client, so that costs can be re-charged where they belong. Discretion is part of the job: our chauffeurs do not comment on where they have driven you, do not recognise names out loud and do not photograph anything. If you want the same chauffeur for the entire week, say so when you book; we assign one person to one client whenever the planning allows.

Paris art fairs — good to know

• Where: Grand Palais, avenue Winston-Churchill, 8th arrondissement — between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, opposite the Petit Palais.
• Who attends: collectors, gallerists, art advisors, curators, museum directors and press — a clientele that values a car that is there without being noticed.
• Access: road closures around the Grand Palais change from day to day during previews; your chauffeur checks them the evening before.
• Hotels: most fair-week pickups are in the 8th — Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, avenue Montaigne, Concorde — five to ten minutes from the fair on a normal day.

Our tip: one chauffeur by the hour for the whole week rather than a series of transfers — same person, same car, one invoice, and every change of plan is a text message.