One of my best friends from home is visiting me in Paris for a week.

She has never been and I’m determined to show her as much of the city as possible before she goes.

While I’m never one to over plan, I’ve put together a rough itinerary for her stay to make sure we don’t waste any time.

As I was planning her visit, I decided to put together a perfect week in Paris for anyone that’s visiting.

That way you’ll get a good head start on the city before my book comes out!

DAY ONE

You’ll want to start your first day in Paris with a pastry.  Allow the warm smell of bread to draw you into Miss Manon - 87, Rue St Antoine.  This bakery is the perfect place to enjoy a croissant, or a Viennoise au chocolat, with an espresso at a small table.  From here spend your day exploring the small streets of the Marais.  Enjoy lunch at The Marche des Enfants Rouges - 39, Rue de Bretagne, one of the oldest covered markets in Paris.  Do some shopping in the whimsical department store of Merci - 11 boulevard Beaumarchais and browse through vintage duds at Fripes Star - 1, Rue de la Verrerie.  Finish the day at Chez Camille-24 rue des Francs Bourgeois for simple bistro fare and a pitcher of house wine.

In Paris as a young girl

DAY TWO

Make your way to the magical hilly streets at Montmartre and grab your first cafe from the Cafe des Deux Moulins - 15 Rue Lepic, where Amélie worked her magic in the famous film.  From here explore the winding streets, and grab some madeleines and a flakey croissant from Le Grenier a Pain - 38, Rue des Abbesses, one of the most tempting pastry shops in the area.  After checking out the many galleries and exploring the view from the Sacre Coeur, break for lunch at L’Ete en Pente Douce - 23, Rue Muller and enjoy one of their bountiful salads or comforting French dishes.  Once you’re well fueled make your way down to the Boulevard Haussman to do some shopping at the glorious department store Galeries Lafayette - 40 Boulevard Haussmann.  Not only is the building itself beautiful, but there is a vast selection of French designers and a gourmet grocery store great for buying gifts.  At the end of the day head over to Chartier - 7, Rue du Faubourg for some unbelievably well priced French food served by waiters in black waistcoats in a historic building.

Sacre Coeur

DAY THREE

Begin your day on the boisterous market street of Rue Mouffetard. Enjoy an escargot au chocolat, a rolled flakey pastry stuffed with chocolate chips from Boulangerie Monge - 123 Rue Mouffetard at one of the brasseries with a warm coffee or chocolat chaud and people watch.  Take advantage of the great cheese shops, butchers and fruit stands and build a picnic to enjoy in the Luxembourg Gardens.  Spend the afternoon grazing through second hand books at Shakespeare and Company - 37, Rue de la Bûcherie and exploring the small islands in the Seine.  Enjoy a leisurely dinner at Le Procope- 13, Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie, a spot frequented by George Sand, Victor Hugo, and Oscar Wilde.  The seafood is excellent, and the restaurant itself is athree-story town house and a historic monument.

My mom outside of Shakespeare & Co

DAY FOUR

Beat the line-ups and start the day early at the Musée d’Orsay - 62 Rue de Lille, for the wonderful selection of paintings and to admire the building itself, housed in a former railway station.  For lunch head down to Rue Cler to check out the markets and shops, and stop in Café du Marché - 38, Rue Cler for a cheap and cheerful lunch.  Afterwards go to  L’Embellie Depot-Vente - 45, av de la Bourdonnais to rifle through some great second hand Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes.  When the sky starts to go dark, make your way up the Eiffel Tower and admire the city all lit up.  Afterwards cross the Seine to Trocadero for a completely different view, then head over to Palais de Tokyo - 13, Avenue du Président Wilson, a fun modern art museum with a particularly good restaurant inside.

The view from Trocadero

DAY FIVE

If you wake up craving decadence, go to Le Meurice Hotel - 228 rue de Rivoli for chocolate themed breakfast (36 euros).  If your budget resembles mine, grab a croissant from one of the many patisseries instead, and get to the Louvre museum as early as possible to beat the line-ups.  Make a plan of what you want to see, otherwise you’ll end up sleeping among the statues trying to make your way through everything.  For lunch grab a baguette sandwich and find a bench in the Jardin des Tuileries. Then, in your best Parisian strut, head down Rue Faubourg Saint Honoré to stop into the coolest store in Paris, Colette - 213, Rue Saint Honore , and to drool over the windows of Chanel and Hermes. Continue your haute-couture experience with a stroll down the Champs-Élysées.  When it comes to dinner time, sneak off past the Arc de Triomphe and the tourist filled restaurants to enjoy simple French fare at a good price at La Verre Bouteille - 85, Avenue des Ternes.  This charming little brasserie serves dinner late into the night at exceptional prices and the owner is very amiable. The salad with warm goat cheese is excellent.

Strolling the Champs-Élysées

DAY SIX

If it’s the weekend make sure to check out the Porte de Vanves flea market for an exquisite selection of vintage Dior and feathered hats.  Also be sure to walk around the effortlessly chic Sevres-Babylone for some gourmet food and clothing shopping.  Explore the shops along Rue du Four and get yourself a perfect pair of ballerinas from Repetto. They are worth the small gasp you’ll have over your Visa bill later.  Stop in Poilane - 8 Rue du Cherche Midi to sample one of their perfect butter cookies and take a beautifully packaged box home with you.  Then feed all of your senses at the Bon Marche and it’s extraordinary food shop, before getting your best bite out of Paris at Pierre Herme - 72, Rue Bonaparte.  Pierre Herme is the Picasso of pastries, so make sure to buy a selection of macarons and anything else that grabs your appetite.  Continue the day’s feast at Polidor - 41, Rue Monsieur le Prince, and buy a pitcher of house wine to enjoy with simple French fare at one of the long wooden tables filled with hungry diners.

Pierre Herme macarons

DAY SEVEN

It’s your last day so spend it doing exactly as you please.  Walk around the city with no rules and no destination.  If it’s Sunday go for a leisurely brunch, a browse through the St.Ouen flea market and a stroll through the hilly Buttes Chaumont park.  Drink an espresso in a random cafe, buy a crepe off the street, choose a restaurant based upon the feeling you get from it, talk to strangers, and remember Paris will always be here if you want to come back.

A glass of wine in the afternoon

So many women dream of going to Paris.

After finishing my first year of university and surviving my first real winter in Toronto, I decided I needed a change.  I also wanted to indulge in my own dream of living in the city of love, romance, and Hemmingway’s moveable feast.

I liked my first year of school but wanted some real life education.  I called my parents and told them I was going for a year.  Always supportive of my dreams, they told me to go for it.  I left my journalism class behind and movee to Paris in the fall of 2005.

I found a job working an au pair-a full-time nanny- for a young couple with two small children in a wealthy neighborhood.  I had no way of preparing myself for the challenges ahead.

Paris did not greet me with open arms.  The first months were filled with tears and I was overwhelmed by the strict cultural rules, the demands of the family and the loneliness that lay within the four walls of my shoebox apartment.

I spent many days chasing after children with a Harry Potter knapsack on my back and chocolate stains on my shirt.  It was far from the romance I dreamed of, and I often looked up to the Eiffel Tower to remind me what I was doing there.

Eventually I got used to my job and the loneliness went away.  The children started to respect me more and I got the hang of my routine.  I made friends and spent my weekends out at dinner parties, drinking, dancing and enjoying the city.  I learnt to tie my scarf like a Parisian, ignore persistent men and to get respect from waiters.  I walked around Paris day after day and allowed myself to get lost.

That’s when I fell in love.  Not with a French man, since my love life consisted of quick coffee dates that ended in me never calling my suitor back, but with the city.  Once I got comfortable I was able to explore the way I wanted to.  I looked beyond the lines of the Louvre and Notre Dame and enjoyed the city based upon my whims.  I walked down unknown streets, wrote in cafes and stopped in restaurants when I liked the menu.

I began to fill my notebook with addresses and decided that I wanted to share all of my gems with women like myself.  I would write a guidebook that women could carry in their purse, unlike the heavy books I had filled with too much information that sat sadly on my bookshelf.  My book would take them to all of my favorite haunts and walks, so even if they were just visiting, they would get a taste of what the city really has to offer.

I left Paris after a year with perfect French, a Moleskin full of notes, a renewed confidence in myself and some solid connections.  I also left knowing it wouldn’t be long before I came back.

The love affair continued over the following years as I finished my degree in Toronto and made it through three more freezing winters.  I often stopped in Paris on my way to the South of France in the summer and stayed in a friend’s apartment.  Every time I returned I was reminded of the independence that Paris offered me, the elegance it taught me, and the freedom that every unknown street held for me.

Around the same time I finished university I fell in love again, but this time with a man, not a city.  I moved to Vancouver and spent a summer working on kicking off a career in broadcast journalism, working as a researcher for food TV while balancing trays of drinks and working for tips at a steakhouse on the side.  Amongst all of this I fell deeper in love, and the city I was born in started to feel like home again for the first time in years.

It was one of the happiest summers of my life, but with school finished I knew I still had to finish the project I started years ago.  So when the summer came to an end, I took my tip jar filled with money, packed my suitcase, and reluctantly kissed my boyfriend goodbye at the airport.

For the past three months I have been back and forth between Paris and the South of France.  I have moved apartments several times, worn through my boots walking around the city, worked as a bartender and a waitress, have had many sleepless nights and have overcome many doubts.  I have notebooks filled with addresses and business cards, and enough lists and maps to fill a book in no time.  I still have some fine combing to do and some information to gather but I am on my way.

I am homesick, quickly going broke, and miss my love more than ever.

The next part of this story?

It’s still being written.

The two weeks I spent in Italy with my boyfriend were magical.

While I may not be writing a guide book for Italy (yet), I enjoyed my trip so much that I wanted to put together a mini guide for anyone visiting.

During our two weeks in Italy we travelled across a huge portion of the country by car, visited three cities, two towns, learnt basic Italian and stayed within our budget.

We learnt how to order a double espresso, that the bread basket often costed two euros and that saying “Grazie” and “Prego” with a smile could get us anything we wanted.

How to Budget:

• Flights: Check flights through expedia and easy jet if you are in Europe.  If you are flying from France, Air France offers discounts if you’re under 25.
• Hotels: Most of the hotels we booked were double the price in the summer.  Visit during an off season and you can save a lot of money.  We booked a couple of hotels through Hotwire, but we lost faith in Rome when they gave us a three star hotel when we had booked a four.  Wanting something special for our first few nights, we were less than impressed.  We ended up finding some great deals scouring reviews on Tripadvisor and other travel sites.
• Food: Italian portions are big.  We found most of the time we were happy sharing a starter and a main dish along with a cheap, simple house wine.  Unfortunately the house wine in Italy isn’t great, so we also resorted to buying our own wine and requesting glasses in our hotel rooms at night.  We had many picnic dinners (bread, cheese, nuts, salads ect.)  and found that buying big cases of water at the grocery store saved a ton of money.
• Shopping: Keep your priorities straight and splurge on some nice oils and vinegar to take home with you.  I kept my eye out for the perfect leather jacket, but was happy just taking home some nice food gifts.

Getting Around:

• Subway: We used the subway a few times in Rome and found it incredibly cheap and easy to maneuver.
• Hotel shuttle: Always check if your hotel has a shuttle from the airport as the taxis will often charge you triple.
• Rent a car: You can rent cars quite reasonably through Expedia, the only drawback is paying for gas and insurance.
• Taxi: Always ask how much a taxi is going to cost before you get in.  Sometimes it’s not worth it or you’ll get ripped off for being a tourist.

What to Bring Back:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Modena Balsamic Vinegar
• Truffle Oil
• Truffle spread
• Biscotti
• Panforte (A delicious cake made of dried fruits and nuts)

Where to Visit:

ROME

• The Vatican- Worth visiting to see the expansive grounds and artwork inside.
• Trastevere- Charming neighborhood of small streets and quaint restaurants.
• Tiber Island- This small island in the Tiber River is the perfect place to stop for gelato.
• Freni e Frizioni- A trendy bar with a happy hour from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. that includes a wonderful buffet of salads, pasta, vegetables and homemade dips and sauces. (Located between Piazza Trilussa andLungotevere Rafaello in Trastevere, Rome, right next to Ponte Sisto).
• Campo dei Fiori Market- Colorful food market every morning with fruit, nuts, pasta, oils and souvenirs.
• Cafe Grecco- Steps away from the Spanish Steps as well as all the luxury brand stores like Chanel and Prada.  Cafe Grecco is elegant and the espressos are perfect.
• Hotel Pulitzer- A very modern, stylish hotel outside of the city centre.  This hotel was very posh for the price tag and only a short subway ride into the city.

SIENNA

• Nannini- Gorgeous bar/bakery where you can choose from a vast selection of pastries before sipping a great espresso at the bar. (Piazza Del Paglio)
• Chianti- If you have a car you can venture off into the wine region and stop in small wineries are walk through the vineyards.
• La Taverna di San Giuseppe- This restaurant is warm and has a a magnificent wine cave.  The food is delicious and the truffles are unforgettable. (Via G.Duprè, 132)
• Osteria Castelvecchio- An intimate restaurant where the owner is happy to serve you a bottle of house wine and serve you up some dishes that taste like mama’s cooking.  We loved the bruschetta and roasted chicken, and the pine nut cookies with sweet liqueur finished the meal perfectly.  (Via Castelvecchio, 65)
• Villa Elda- One of the best rated hotels in Siena, this boutique hotel has few rooms and is very elegant.  We loved our room and the fact that we were allowed to admire the view from the rooftop upstairs.

VENICE

• Concerts- Try to catch some live music in Venice.  The violin concert we heard in the church was one of the most moving concerts I’ve ever been to.
• Piazza San Marco- A central landmark in Venice that is stunning to see.  It also leads to Chanel and all the high end boutique stores.
• Rialto Market- A daily market with the most beautiful artichokes and radicchio I have ever seen.
• Vino Vino- Elegant wine bar specializing in Venetian cuisine.  Enjoyed some great Chianti, fish and roasted chicken.
• Hotel Molino Stucky- It may be a Hilton but it is worth stopping by this hotel that used to be an old flour factory.  The large brick building is stunning, and I’m sure the rooftop pool and bar are buzzing in the summer.  The prices are steep, so maybe stop for a glance and move on.

IMPRUNETA (just outside of Florence)

• Castello di Caffagio- This magnificent building overlooking a lush landscape of olive trees, vineyards and a forest sells some of the best olive oil I’ve ever tasted.
• Hotel Bellavista- The cheapest and most charming place we stayed in Italy.  The owners are incredible and very accomodating.  We loved the large outside terrace on the top floor and the restaurant downstairs was delicious.

FIUMICINO

• Hotel Seccy- If you have an early flight to catch don’t miss the harbor town of Fiumicino.  It is a great place to spend the night and the Hotel Seccy is a perfect hotel to rest your head.