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    Paris Like You Live There: A Practical Travel Guide

    Dec 20, 2016 ·

    Keith and I in Paris

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    Hi. We’re Keith and Marissa.

    We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary with a trip to Paris – a whole month! So often, vacations are made up of crammed itineraries, hard-trodden tourist paths, stark hotel rooms and too much eating out.

    We wanted to do things differently.

    Our goal for the trip was simple: to live as Parisian-like as possible, to find our own Joie de vivre (Joy of Living!).

    To accomplish this, we:

    • Rented an apartment
    • Shopped daily for the freshest foods and often cooked simply at home
    • Traveled around the city by foot, metro and bike
    • Leisurely explored museums and other city attractions
    • Spent afternoons relaxing in beautiful parks or along the Seine river

    Sound appealing? Then this book is for you.

    Of course, spending a month away from home is not always an option. But you can experience Paris this way with just a week or two.

    In this guide, you’ll find our best tips on preparing to go, what to pack, how to find a place to stay, how to explore the city on foot or bike and get around on the metro, language basics, day trips out of the city, simple recipes to make in your apartment and more. We’ll also share our thoughts on the best museums and how to really enjoy them, restaurants to try, even our pick for the best chocolate shop in Paris.

    Our hope is that you pick and choose from what we’ve shared to design your perfect trip to Paris, to find your Joie de vivre!

    Paris Like You Live There: A Practical Travel Guide

    Table of Contents:

    Chapter 1: Manage Logistics

    In this chapter, we'll help you work out the details of your trip from when you'll travel, to setting a budget and organizing documents.

    Chapter 2: Choose An Arrondissement & Rent an Apartment

    In this chapter, we'll go over the highlights of each of the 20 arrondissements and give you a list of resources for finding the right apartment.

    shutterstock_93688378

    Chapter 3: Pack Your Bags

    In this chapter, we'll give you a detailed list of packing essentials and what to wear.

    Chapter 4: Walk the City

    In this chapter, we'll give you 4 of our favorite walks for exploring Paris on foot. Example:

    explore-montmartre-on-foot

    Chapter 5: Ride the Metro

    In this chapter, we'll give our best tips on riding the metro along with maps, ticket information and our favorite (and free!) app for making it easy.

    Chapter 6: Rent a Bike

    Explore Paris by bike! It's inexpensive and really fun. We'll explain how.

    Velib full bike station sq

    Chapter 7: Explore a Museum

    In this chapter, we'll share our favorite museums and how to make exploring them even more fun.

    Mona Lisa

    Chapter 8: Speak Français

    In this chapter, you'll find essential words and phrases: basic communication, useful phrases, useful words, on the menu, numbers and days.

    Chapter 9: Ride a Train

    In this chapter, we'll share the details of high speed train travel and 4 great day trips to consider.

    Monet - Water Lily pond

    Chapter 10: Cook a Meal

    In this chapter, you'll find advice on shopping for the best of everything to cook at home in your apartment. And we've shared 7 of our favorite recipes that are both delicious and easy to prepare.

    Vegetable Soup au Pistou sq

    Chapter 11: Dine Out

    In this chapter, we've shared the details of our very favorite places to dine out in Paris.

    Chapter 12: Pick a Favorite

    In this chapter, we'll share what we call a "Little List of Lovely Miscellany" - 14 of our favorite Paris discoveries, including our favorite chocolate shop and a couple of hidden gems.

    secret-paris

     

     

    Plan Your Trip To Italy

    Nov 21, 2014 ·

    Italy Travel Guide Book Cover

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    Book cover of Italy travel guide

    We spent 65 days exploring and writing about Italy - this book is a companion to our blog. If you’re wondering what cities to visit, https://pinchandswirl.com/65-days-italy/ is a good place to start. Here you’ll get a sense of what it’s like to stay in some of Italy’s most desirable destinations. We visited Treviso, Venice, Bologna,  Asti, Levanto (Cinque Terre), Florence, Civitella Marittima (Southern Tuscany), Assisi, and Rome.

    When we started to plan the trip, we felt overwhelmed. We bought several exhaustive guides about Italy - they were full of enough information to leave us, well, exhausted. We needed a place to start.

    If you’re like us, you need a place to start. This is it.

    Just finished reading this Italian travel guide and I absolutely loved every moment of it! Marissa and Keith are the trip advisors you wish you had with you when you’re trying to figure out what to pack, how to budget your trip, where to stay, how much flights will be, and all the extra details you need to think about before you’ve even gotten to your destination. And then, like warm Italians who embrace you with a cheerful smile and reassuring hug, they help guide you through every major city, landmark, and tourist spot you will want to see in an easy-to-follow format with helpful timelines and suggestions. I’ve already printed all the pages of the book to help me plan my own Italian excursion and feel 10x more prepared for my dream trip to the country of pasta and la bella vita! Beeta, Mon Petit Four

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    The best food happens at home. I love delicious food prepared simply with fresh ingredients and that’s just what you’ll find here! You can count on me for well tested, mouthwatering recipes designed for home cooks. Learn more →

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