Lowell Thomas Award winner Carol Pucci of the Seattle Times has been reporting from Paris for the past week, and her Postcards from Paris series of daily dispatches is full of useful tips for the independent traveler visiting the city. Pucci’s reports on free Wi-Fi spots, undiscovered flea markets and finding high-quality/low-cost restaurants are all worth checking out. But she saves her best resource for her last dispatch: Paris Bed & Breakfast, a convenient Web site for booking rooms in private homes.

Through Paris Bed & Breakfast Pucci booked a room in the home of a Parisian pensioner, Jacqueline, who not only accompanied Pucci on a trip to a local market but also cooked her dinner and shared with her her own homemade raspberry liqueur. Beats the stale croissants and instant coffee at most Paris hotels, eh?

As Pucci’s dispatch shows, sleeping in private homes helps you get closer to people in the place you visit – and it’s generally cheaper than staying in hotels. A quick search of Paris Bed & Breakfast turned up a double room with an en-suite bathroom in a 19th century mansion for 75 euros a night. That’s no chump change; but, for Paris, it’s certainly not bad. Especially since the home, like the others featured on Paris Bed & Breakfast, is such a nice place.

Related: Paris Travel Writing Workshop