Had great private tours for two days with a terrific guide Gilles - You will not regret hiring this company! - We are rating two days of private guided tours with Normandy Melody. One day was Loire valley chateaus (three chateaus of our choice). The next day it was Monet home in Giverny and also Versailles. We set aside two days in Paris to travel to Versailles/Giverny, and Chateaus of Loire valley. Finding a private guide/driver was an issue. Prices were steep. We ran across web information on Normandy Melody. Not a lot of reviews but looked encouraging. It was a couple of thousand dollars, but we took a risk that they were as good as the reviews we read. Turns out they are FANTASTIC!! After paying for the two tours a couple of months in advance, we did not have any communication from them until a week prior to our travel when we were asked about our three choices of Chateaus to visit. On the first day our driver-guide Gilles called us about 06:45am to let us know he was on his way. He was punctual at 0700 in a Mercedes SUV (exceptionally clean inside and out) for the three-hour drive to the Loire valley. Gilles English was perfect and his knowledge of the sites for the two days was robust. He had answers to most of the questions we had. He was very personable and knew how to short cut queues and show us places of interest most may not see. While there were crowds, we really did not feel anything more than his guiding presence. On the second day, we went to Giverny first to avoid the biggest crowds of the day. He was able to get us to the garden pond very quickly and suggested we see the house next before the crowds. We followed his advice and had a very pleasant experience. As we were leaving, the huge crowds arrived. Our next stop was Versailles. He first dropped us in the village for lunch. At Versailles we were able to get in quickly and proceed through all the rooms opened to the public. He showed us the gardens as well. I would very highly recommend Normandy Melody for anyone interested in private tours in France. I am sure they have great guides but if you get Gilles, you are in exceptionally capable hands.