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Last year I stayed in a friend’s apartment in Noisy-le-Sec, which is in the suburbs. It seems some people working in the metro ticket offices hadn’t even heard of it.

Millions of men were sent out from the station in Noisy-le-Sec, during the Great War. This plaque outside commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war.

Having someone’s flat to look after is a great way of keeping holiday costs down – and you don’t have to have a friend to do it (although that does make it free, which is lovely). There are a few companies such as housetrip, that offer the same opportunity. There are currently apartments available on their site for a Valentine’s Day break at as little as £103 for three nights.

From Noisy-le-Sec the RER double decker train runs to Magenta (which is actually Gard du Nord too) in ten minutes. From there, everywhere is easily accessible. So wherever you stay in the city or suburbs, the trains and metro system are so good, anywhere comfortable is fine.

Staying in an apartment has the bonus of helping you feel you’re really living in the place for a bit. For me, this meant doing things I’d not done before at my own pace. I visited Pere Lachaise cemetery…

and the flea market…

and returned to the Pompidou Centre, to look at my favourite piece…

And I met up with lovely bloggers and great conversationalists Marlys and Michael, who live in Montmartre

Marlys baked an amazing cake…

…then she and Michael pointed out a couple of the places in Montmartre where the wonderful film Amelie was shot. The cafe…

and the vegetable shop…

 Marlys and Michael have an apartment in Montmartre you can rent and they take their guests on movie walks of the area. Michael even wrote a book, ‘Paris Movie Walks‘.

There are some helpful posts about Paris on the Eurostar blog and you can see a post I wrote about my stay on my friend Abigail King’s blog. @Chocoralie also recently wrote about the most delicious place in Paris to have lunch.