The Story Behind Le Détour
We're revealing the side of Paris most visitors never know
One afternoon...
...at a bus stop in Paris, I overheard a group of American tourists complaining about their trip. Rude waiters. Overcrowded sites. Nothing like they'd imagined.
I recognized the feeling. I had the same experience when I visited France while I was stationed in Germany with the Army. I had checked the boxes (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, croissant...) and left underwhelmed. I didn't get it.
Then a local showed me his version of the city.
That experience changed everything. Within three months I had moved to Paris to study French 20 hours a week for 18 months. I wanted to understand the place, not just visit it. Once I spoke the language, I finally could.
The Paris I found wasn't in any guidebook or blog. It was in the volunteering, the workshops, the neighborhood bistros, the forests outside the city that Parisians escape to on weekends, the local experts who share their craft because they genuinely love it.
Standing at that bus stop, listening to those tourists, something clicked. I knew this version of Paris. I'd spent years finding it. And I could show it to people who deserved to see it--starting with the community that gave me the world in the first place, the military.
Le Détour was built for Americans living in Europe. Because you already know how to go somewhere uncomfortable and make it yours. You just need someone to open the right doors.
Meet Kendal
Kendal commissioned as a U.S. Army officer in 2019 and was a Fulbright Scholar in Belarus. She was stationed in Baumholder, Germany, where she often visited France on pass and leave.
Years later, back in Paris with a local as her guide, the city finally made sense. She moved there in September 2024.
Le Détour started as a thought while pet-sitting in Lyon in July 2025. By February 2026, she'd been accepted to Singa, a startup incubator in Paris. She built the tours she wished had existed when she was stationed in Germany.
Kendal is also a graduate of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans, has a M.S. in Environmental Policy and Management, and was a Climate Corps Fellow.
She's traveled to over 40 countries solo and backpacked Europe and Asia for 8 months. She speaks French and still lives in Paris, discovering more detours to take you to.
