Cheap Shopping: Paris Thrift Stores

(Kilo Shop)

There's nothing more satisfying than finding a treasure at a thrift shop. Sure, you may have to dig a bit, but when you find a gorgeous 1950s summer dress for 10€ or a Mad Men-era handbag for 5€, it feels like hitting the jackpot. Here are a few of my favorite Paris thrift stores:

Paris Cheapskate Tour: "Amélie" Film Locations

I adore the film Amélie, which catapulted Audrey Tautou to international fame and gave millions of people the urge to come swoon in Paris. If you're also a fan of the movie, why not take yourself on a charming little walking tour of Montmartre and check out all the locations where the movie was filmed? Here is a step-by-step guided tour you can follow.

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).