Montparnasse district

A little house in a quiet alley behind Montparnasse? It's not a dream and Janine, a live-wire cinema journalist who has lived in Canada, welcomes B&B guests to her pretty wood-ceilinged kitchen/diner; she's a night bird so DIY breakfast will be laid for you. The square bedroom across the book-lined hall, a pleasing mix of warm fabrics, honeycomb tiles, old chest and contemporary art, has a good new pine bathroom. In summer rent the whole flat, its richly French sitting room with art, antiques and music, its adorable central patio, superbly rich second bedroom and bathroom.

• 75014 Paris (full address on booking), +33 (0)1 43 27 19 43. B&B with one + one: one double & bathroom. €70 Singles €60. Self-catering: two doubles, two bathrooms €950-€1,000 per week.

Le Clos des Princes

Twenty minutes on the train and you're in Paris. Here, behind wrought-iron gates in an elegant suburb, the French mansion sits in an exuberant town garden of pergolas, box bushes and mature trees. Your kind, attentive hosts – she an ex-English teacher, he with a passion for Prudhomme – give you the poet/philosopher's two-room first-floor suite; he lived here in 1902. Polished floorboards, pretty prints, choice antiques, decorative perfume bottles by a claw-footed tub – all dance to the 19th-century theme. Breakfast unveils gorgeous porcelain and delicious homemade muffins and jams.

• 60 avenue Jean Jaurès, 92290 Châtenay Malabry, +33 (0)1 46 61 94 49. One suite for two with separate bath. Sofabed available for children. B&B €95-€110.