Paris on a Budget

After having spent a week in rural Réparsac, France, keeping an eye out for mice, flies, spiders the size of your hand, and working with more goats than people, we almost wept tears of joy when we pulled into the Gare du Montparnasse in Paris. The City of Lights made us feel like we were home again, back in New York, surrounded by fast-paced commuters, busy streets, and so much energy. We had both been to this beautiful city before, Christina for a study abroad semester in college and in 2009, and Chris for a weekend in 2009 as well. It was good to be back!

La Basilique du Sacré Cœur de Montmartre

We had big plans for our visit and allocated 12 days for this portion of the trip. In addition to seeing the sights within Paris, we wanted to do several day trips, visit nearby UNESCO sites, as well as to see friends and family, a few of whom were visitors and a few live in the area. All of these big plans can add up – fast. It was a little intimidating to think about how to do all of this on a budget.

Gardens of Versailles

The first thing we did was to find affordable accommodations. This meant booking a 40 square meter studio apartment in the far north of the city for just under $50 a night. It was close to the metro, so we could easily access the city center, but far enough away from the high-priced accommodations that are in the heart of the city. It was also a sixth floor walk-up with no elevator. Don’t forget that in Europe, the ground floor is considered zero instead of floor one, so technically this was a seventh floor walk-up. We definitely got our exercise each day!

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Le Mont-Saint-Michel

We took the metro or walked everywhere. Taxis can add up. We wouldn’t taxi everywhere in New York, so why do it in Paris? The metro is super convenient and it worked out perfectly for us. We went out for one nice dinner with Chris’s cousins, but otherwise, we cooked in our apartment most nights. Buying food in the grocery stores instead of cafes or restaurants can add up to huge savings. Whenever we did eat out, we tried to find places either near one of the universities or where we could see lots of students were eating. That was a good indicator that we could find cheap eats.

Eiffel Tower

There are always deals out there to take advantage of if you do your research. It worked out for us that we were visiting Paris during the first week of September and many museums are free on the first Sunday of every month. That meant, besides paying for our train ticket, our visit to Fontainebleau was free!

Champagne tasting – Vranken Pommery Monopole

We had an amazing trip. We wandered the streets in Montmartre, discovered the gardens in Versailles, got creeped out in the Catacombs, drank beers on the Canal Saint-Martin, devoured falafel in the Marais district, and took in the light show at the Eiffel Tower. We also visited the small town where Christina taught English after college, visited the Fontainebleau palace and surrounding forest, went for a champagne tasting in Reims with friends, walked the beaches in Normandy and witnessed the breathtaking sights of Mont Saint Michel. We also spent three days north of Paris with Christina’s cousins. We really couldn’t have asked for more.

Catacombs

There were three days out of the twelve that we went over budget, but there were others when we only spent around 35% of what we had budgeted. You have to find the balance between counting every centime and spending money on the things and experiences that are the top priorities.

Château de Fontainebleau

This wrapped up our first month on the road. Hard to believe how fast time flies. Next stop, Berlin!

-The Morts