Paris on Budget

Five reasons. First, last year’s piece, in which I rented an apartment and confined myself to the everyday pleasures of a tiny set of neighborhoods—the 10th, 11th and 12th Arrondissements, mostly—was more a pit stop in a summer long journey. It was intimate and personal (it ended with my throwing a frugal dinner party for a group of international friends). It was minor key. This year I wanted to tackle Paris on a grander (if more detached) scale—to seek out the classic, enjoyable (and affordable) delights of a city that often can seem over-exposed and overpriced.

This weekend’s cover story, “Frugal Paris,” may surprise regular readers of the Frugal Traveler. After all, it was only a tiny over a year ago that I wrote my last “Frugal Paris” piece, as part of my “Frugal Grand Tour.” Why, then, return to a city I’ve historicallyin the past covered?

Second, Paris—like New York, London and Tokyo—is a large city. There's a near-infinite number of ways to approach it: dozens of angles, hundreds of themes, thousands of museums, shops, restaurants and people to discover. This weekend’s story is five particular take, a look at Paris from the point of view of the strivers, schemers, hustlers, freeloaders and starving artists who made it the lovely, romantic, livable city it is today. It’s a way to do Paris cheaply and without suffering (well, without suffering much).