Airbnb City Host Tours

Before we left the US, we received an email from Airbnb inviting us to participate in a ‘beta’ of something new that they were trying called City Hosts.  We chose two of the experiences in their ‘immersive’ category and intentionally scheduled them for the first two weekends of our time in Paris, reasoning that it would be a great way to meet locals and fellow travelers who could share ideas that we could act on during our stay.  This turned out to be a great way to start out.

The Parisian Locavore with Marc began with lunch at a tiny local restaurant, Bloom, where the menu was small, but everything was local and fresh.  We learned a new term, ‘flexitarian,’ which either means “one who eats primarily vegetables, but occasionally eats meat or fish,” OR “a silly word to categorize people whose eating habits don’t already fit into a category but who desperately want to belong to a label.”  An enjoyable start with 5 other travelers and Marc, our host.
The following day we all went with Marc to the markets in his neighborhood, where we chose ingredients that we would use to cook our meal on Sunday. We visited the Boucherie (butcher), Boulangerie (baker), Poissonerie (fish monger), Fromagerie (cheese shop), and Verger (produce market) and came away with a pintade (guinea fowl), 2 dorades (fish), fennel, carrots, figs, potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, melons and basil. And wine, of course…

On Sunday, we all showed up at Marc’s home, where we prepared a sumptuous meal using all the ingredients we’d bought the day before.  Somehow, we all squeezed into a table set up in Marc and Caroline’s tiny kitchen where we enjoyed quite a lunch. (No dinner was necessary that night!)

The Chanson Singer with Sylvain began with cocktails at Hotel du Nord, a legendary Paris establishment that was the location of  an eponymous  French movie. There we met Sylvaine and the other two guests on our tour.

We then proceeded to Sylvaine’s home, where we enjoyed a great spread of cheeses, saucissons, bread and lots of Champagne.  He performed a set of French songs for us accompanied by a talented young man who played the piano and the accordion.

The following evening, we all met at Madame Arthur’s, a cabaret in Pigale. Sylvain, our host, made sure to get us there early so that we had one of the few tables.  He also supplied us with Champagne and some nibbles while we waited for the show to begin.  What a show! The performers were all men in drag, and many of them made pretty attractive women!  And our host was one of the performers. Not something we would have found on our own, but we’re so glad we were there!

We would highly recommend that you check out these City Host experiences when you travel.  It looks like Airbnb has expanded the program to include many locales, even some cities in the US.