Free Art: Musée Carnavalet's Permanent Collection

There are tons of ways to enjoy Paris art for free, from galleries to free museum Sundays, but many of Paris' loveliest museums boast permanent collections that are free to visit every single day. My personal favorite is the Musée Carnavalet, dedicated to the cultural history of Paris.

Cheap Thrills: Hôtel de Ville

(Photo via Wikipedia)

When my mom first came to Paris, we were in the Marais and as we walked past the Hôtel de Ville, I pointed it out to her and she said, "Wow, I wish we were staying in THAT hotel!"

Easy mistake, but it's not, of course, a hotel at all... the "hôtel de ville" of any French town is the city center or town hall. It's where you go to sort out administrative woes and pick up brochures for what's happening around town. But Paris takes the concept much further and its Hôtel de Ville goes way beyond its definition as a city center. This magnificent structure has been around since the 1357 and is so much more than "the city's local administration" (as Wikipedia has described it).

The Cheapest Books In Paris

(Jean Seberg via Awesome People Reading)

Yes, you should be practicing your French, but what if you just want to read a book in English? A little something to bring to Jardin du Luxembourg or Tuileries, or for while you sit along the Seine or in a café, or just to keep you occupied on the long journey away from Paris whether by train or plane.

Luckily there are plenty of reading resources for Anglophones in Paris. Besides Shakespeare and Company, the Abbey Bookshop and San Francisco Book Company, you can always get a membership to the American Library of Paris and check books out at your heart's desire. But what if you're a seriously stingy, Jenna-level cheapskate? No worries; there are regular events by two Paris organizations which sell books for between 1-3€ apiece!

Cheap Paris Opera Tickets

(Photo via La Terrasse)

I'd always wanted to go to the opera. In the past and in other beloved cities I'd gone to the ballet, the theater, and classical music concerts, but never the opera. It's all so fancy and high-class that I have trouble even saying the word without it sounding, well, snooty. Ahhh-prahh. The very idea of it is so Paris: get dressed up, go somewhere fabulous, have a night on the town. So you can imagine how thrilled I was recently to snag tickets to the Paris opera for a mere ten euros.

The Best Paris Flea Market: Marché Aux Puces de Vanves

I love me a good flea market, junk shop, garage sale, any place you can get cool old things for very cheap. Paris has its share of great brocantes and vide greniers, but the best Paris flea market I've been to is at Porte de Vanves.

Cheap Paris Art: Kaitlin Rebesco Photography

("Lovers at the Louvre," by Kaitlin Rebesco, $30)

Kaitlin Rebesco's photography has a distinctive kind of intimacy to it, a feeling of ephemerality and beauty that inspires a sense of lovely wistfulness. Rebesco's photos perfectly capture a feeling of fleeting happiness - whether that's youth, or love, or sunshine, or simply being in Paris while knowing you will have to leave it. The Chicago native says of her time in the City of Light, "Paris is such a picturesque city but one that at times, to me, feels almost melancholic. This sort of quiet and beautiful sadness is a feeling I tried to depict in my own work, using a lot of white space and minimalist compositions. But Paris, like everything else, is always changing, and that change is an inspiration."

Sponsored Post: 5 Signs It's Time To Get Away

I love this cute, well-designed graphic courtesy of Superbreak. Don't you think it's a great time to come to Paris... right now? (Click to see a larger version.)

Find out more about Superbreak City Breaks.

THATLou: Paris Treasure Hunts at the Louvre

(We didn't even get bonus points for this. We just liked the look of it.)

When Daisy de Plume was growing up in New York, her mother would take her to art museums like the Met. To keep her interested, engaged and well-behaved, Mum would create games for Daisy to play that focused on the art, often with monetary incentives. Years later, living in Paris and armed with an art history degree, Daisy's wanderings around the Louvre inspired the familiar feeling of associating art with reward. Wouldn't it be great to have those games to play in the most famous museum in the world? Thus THATLou, or Treasure Hunt at the Louvre, was born.

Discovering Paris With CROP THE BLOCK

(Video still via CROP THE BLOCK)

When French-born Adrien Degouve was traveling or studying abroad, he wanted a way to show the spirit of Paris to the new friends he met. He searched for videos online that captured the essence of the varied Parisian neighborhoods and arrondissements, but found many of them were of amateur quality. So, like any good entrepreneur, he saw the opportunity and decided to fill the demand. Thus CROP THE BLOCK was born.

CROP THE BLOCK is a collection of creative, high-quality short videos that highlight the unique beauties of neighborhoods around Paris. Ranging from documentary style to short fictions, each video is created by a different local filmmaker or "cropper" who knows the area intimately and shows it from his or her own joyful and enthusiastic perspective. One video shows a man rollerblading around the iconic pyramid of the Louvre to the sounds of electropop, while another features a charming and witty host to tell us all about Place d'Italie (while saving us from boring history lectures). Still another depicts two young lovers in black and white on the Seine in the style of Agnès Varda. My favorite is this clever montage by Camille Lorente and Lucie de Ribier of the colorful and diverse Château Rouge area, featuring a pair of shoes that undergo a cool transformation:

This is an awesome site because anybody with an interest in or tie to Paris can enjoy it. Whether you're a proper Parisian and want to see fascinating new takes on the neighborhoods of your city, or if you're an expat or traveler who wants to discover a new 'hood, or a Francophile who just wants to spend an afternoon living vicariously through a group of talented filmmakers in Paris, CROP THE BLOCK is THE digital way to experience Paris, and soon they'll be expanding to feature other cities around Europe and hopefully, eventually, the world. Check out the site to watch all the films.

Sponsored Post: Paris to London with iDBUS

(Photo courtesy iDBUS)

Paris and London have a long and well-documented relationship. If you're in one of the two cities, it only makes sense to visit the other while you're "in the area." But not everybody can afford tickets on the high-speed Eurostar trains. Though Eurostar does have some sales throughout the year, you can get an even more affordable round trip ticket between Paris and London any day of the year with iDBUS bus services.

iDBUS' frequent daily voyages and user-friendly site makes it super-easy to book a cheap ticket between cities. You can go from Paris' Bercy Station to London's Victoria Coach Station with their 39€ Mini Price! I'm not gonna lie, it is a long journey - about 8 or 9 hours - but that's a snap for overnight voyages and with your ticket you get free wi-fi, electrical sockets for your gadgets, real-time voyage updates, and you're guaranteed one free checked bag plus a carry-on.

When you sign up for the iDBUS newsletter, you'll get updates and first notice on deals between Paris and London, but I'll let you in on a deal that lasts all year round: buy 3 tickets, get one free. If you have a few friends to bring to London (or from there to Paris), go in on the deal together and save some bucks!

iDBUS also has lines to Amsterdam, Genoa, Turin and several other cities in France, so if you're looking to travel in style for cheap, especially from Paris to London, check out the site and make use of this awesome deal. Just don't forget your passport.