You’ll Need This Guide, If You Home Exchange in Paris

A 1/1 on the top floor in the center of Paris – Located near Rue des Martyrs, one of the best gourmet food streets in Paris. (Photo courtesy of Homelink.org)

When I received my first e-mail about a home exchange in Paris,I had no idea what an arrondissement was; let alone how to pronounce it.

The e-mail was from a French family of five. The wife, Julie, wrote, “We have decided to exchange our home in the 5^th arrondissement because we like to travel and we think that this way of visiting a country is a good one.”

I phoned a well-traveled girlfriend for a definition of arrondissement and asked if a 5^th of it was a good thing. She told me it was a very good thing.

French Entree

Oh, how I wish I had first seen this blog post from French Entrée; I would have felt much more informed:

http://www.frenchentree.com/paris/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=46558

Ellie Cobbe explains on her website, “Paris is divided into 20 administrative districts, or arrondissements, each with very distinctive atmospheres and attractions. Arranged in a spiral shape which

A 3/2 flat, 5 min. walk to Musee du Louvre – Flat is located on the 2nd & 3rd floors of a 17th century building. (Photo courtesy of Homelink.org)

begins in Paris’ historical centre and works outwards to the more modern areas of the city, we hope to draw out the best that each of these mini communities has to offer.”

The French Entrée website includes a Paris business directory, a list of concerts and shows, and details about cookery schools. All great information if you book a home exchange in the City of Light.

French Home Exchange

One of the top home swap websites is: www.homelink.org. Their site lists 1,799 home exchange members who have a home in France; 587 of them own homes in or around Paris. These members are looking for exchanges in a wide variety of countries including: the U.S., Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Germany, Sweden. You name it, the members want to visit it.

My family did, in fact, home exchange with Julie and her family in the 5^th arrondissement.The first week we were there we took a walking tour of our neighborhood, also known as the Latin Quarter. I was thrilled to learn from the tour guide that our 3-bedroom home exchange flat was only three doors down from where Ernest Hemingway lived when he wrote “The

A 3/1 home exchange in Paris – Located in Marais, a lovely character-filled neighborhood. (Photo courtesy of www.homelink.org)

Sun Also Rises.”

Oh, and get this, James Joyce lived about half a block away from our home exchange when he wrote “Ulysses.”

Wow.

I felt honored to live, even if only for a few weeks, in the neighborhood of greatness. And I was reminded of, once again, why home exchange is a very good thing.

Where do you want to home exchange?

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