Lucky her! Last 3 times I have been to Paris I stay at the Hotel California, just a block or two away from Champs Elysees and not far from the Arc de Triomphe. It has been more than 10 years though since I was there last. I loved this hotel because it is small, the rooms were nice, complimentary breakfast and the staff was really helpful. The doorman remembered us each time we stayed at the hotel.

Hotel California

We stayed in a lovely little apartment and it was about the same price as a hotel. It was great to have a refrigerator and washer and dryer. We did cook just one dinner and one night we were beat and just ha bread and cheese. Also, breakfast was fast and easy.

The subway there is fantastic and we were a block from a stop. It was fun to be in a bustling neighborhood - the Marais.

We used this company and they were fantastic: http://www.alacarte-paris-apartments.com/en/

Anymore advice/recommendations/thoughts?

It's been too many years since I was there to be of any good.

I loved Paris when we were there last year. We didn't have lots of free time, but an outstanding highlight was visiting Notre Dame Cathedral. Absolutely breathtaking. There was a long line-up to go up into the bell tower, otherwise I would have loved to go there too.

I'm a book lover, so I had to visit a large, famous English language bookstore located right near Notre Dame Cathedral, called Shakespeare & Company.

My experience with visiting two museums - the Louvre and d'Orsay - was being overwhelmed by how very large they are. If I had to do it again, I would go online for a museum map and pinpoint the works of art that I particularly want to see, so that I can use my walking energy for those and not visit displays that are not on the top of my list.

Just walking around in Paris is a real treat because the architecture is so amazing and each city block has several different shops, such as antique furniture, shoes, delis, bakeries, clothing stores, etc. So this is a great way to get a flavor of the city. We were very pleased that we were able to make our way around the city speaking mainly English, although I hope to learn some French before a next trip.

Our hotel was nice but not particularly beautiful and was very expensive. So nothing to recommend there.

DH #1 and I spent a week on the Riveria about 15 years ago, stayed in Monte Carlo and visited the casino and most of the towns, Cannes, etc..one of the best vacations ever. Then, year after DH passed away, I went to London alone , the Chunnel train was fairly new, and I caught the train from London to Paris, and did the Louvre, boat ride on the Seine, and just walked the streets, took the evening dinner train back to London, and went to bed. Visited Windsor and Buckingham castle tts.hat week and just walked the streets.
One of the best weeks ever.

dd2 went to London for summer college, so was with a group...they bought rail passes and went to as many places they could...but this was about 15 years ago, and before everyone was looking over their shoulders, sigh....