Eric Martin
Eric Martin Travel Planner · Based in Paris
Private travel planning for Americans visiting France

Paris and France,
the way they're meant
to be experienced

Designed for travelers who don't want to leave it to chance

A honeymoon, a milestone birthday, a family trip you've been planning for years — when a trip really matters, you shouldn't have to figure it out alone from 4,000 miles away.

Tell me about your trip See the services
Parisian terrace, morning coffee and croissant
Paris Someone based on the ground,
who knows the city from the inside
In English All communication in English,
clear and responsive
Tailored Your trip built around you —
not a package, not a template
No agency Strategy and planning only —
so you stay in control
The honest reality

Paris can disappoint. And it almost always disappoints the same way.

Wrong neighborhood. Hotel that photographs beautifully and feels soulless in person. Days too packed to enjoy. The restaurant you wanted fully booked because you waited too long. It's not bad luck — it's the cost of planning without local knowledge.

This service exists to close that gap.

Why Google isn't enough

You can find 10,000 "best Paris hotels" articles in 30 seconds. What you can't find is someone who knows which of those hotels actually suits your trip — and which ones are just well-optimized for search.

The gap between a good-looking result and the right decision is exactly where this service lives. Not more information. Better judgment, applied to your specific situation.

See the services

All communication in English, by email or WhatsApp.

I'm based in Paris — not in a New York office. The difference is knowing the city from the inside, including what's changed in the last six months that no blog has caught up with yet.

01

The hotel that looks right, isn't

Ratings and photos don't tell you about the street noise, the 20-minute walk from everything you care about, or the neighborhood that shuts down at 9pm.

02

Days that look great on paper

An itinerary full of must-sees can still feel exhausting and incoherent if the geography doesn't make sense day by day.

03

The reservation you forgot to make

The best tables in Paris book 3–6 weeks out. The most popular museum slots sell out days in advance. Timing isn't a detail.

04

Decision fatigue before departure

After 40 tabs and three conflicting Reddit threads, most people make rushed, inconsistent choices — and arrive already tired.

05

The neighborhood trade-off no one warned you about

Some of Paris's most photogenic areas are the least convenient to stay in. Knowing which arrondissement actually suits your trip changes everything.

06

A trip that cost a lot and left too little

The real risk isn't the flight or the hotel rate. It's spending $8,000 on a trip that was fine — and not the lasting memory it was supposed to be.

Parisian hotel room, soft morning light

Where you sleep shapes how you live the day.
The right hotel doesn't show — it feels.

Three levels of support

Three services, three decision frameworks

A foundation package to set the right course. A signature service to craft an important trip with precision. A premium option for when you want to go further than Paris alone.

Starting point

Paris Essentials

The right service if you're early in the process and need a clear foundation before committing to hotels or flights. Direction and hotel — nothing more, nothing less.

€190

approx. $210 USD · Payment by bank transfer or card

Written brief to map your project, dates, and priorities
Neighborhood recommendation with the reasoning behind it
Shortlist of 3–4 hotels matched to your profile and budget tier
Key watch-outs: what to avoid before you commit to anything
Arrival logistics note — CDG transfer and first-day bearings
This is direction and hotel only — not an itinerary build, not a full planning document. One round of exchanges, delivered in 5–7 business days. The right entry point before Signature.
Start here
Signature service Most requested

Paris Signature

For the trip that actually matters — honeymoon, once-in-a-decade family trip, milestone anniversary, or a first Paris you've been planning for years. This is where the work gets done properly.

€750

approx. $820 USD · Payment by bank transfer or card

In-depth brief (written or call) to understand what this trip needs to be
Day-by-day itinerary for 5–7 days, structured by zone and rhythm
Hotel selection: 2–3 options with full written rationale, not just a ranking
Curated address list by category — restaurants, experiences, neighborhoods — with reservation priority flagged
Reservation timing guide: what to book now, what to wait on, what's overrated
Logistics brief: arrival, airport transfers, internal transport, departure timing
Two rounds of revisions included — delivered within 10–14 business days
You receive a structured planning document — not a PDF of bullet points. Something you can actually navigate on your phone while you're there.
Build my Paris Signature
Multi-destination

France Privée

For trips that go beyond Paris — into the Loire Valley, Provence, the Basque Country, Alsace, or further. A different scope requires a different kind of planning.

From€1,500

approx. $1,650 USD · Scoped individually · Payment by bank transfer or card

Full Paris Signature for the Paris leg, included
Regional extension: 1–2 destinations beyond Paris, structured and sequenced
Inter-city logistics — train vs. car vs. driver, with real tradeoffs laid out
Pacing across the full trip: how to balance density and rest across 10–14 days
Region-specific accommodation and experience selection
Extended exchanges — typically 3–4 rounds — over a longer planning window
Scoped individually because every multi-destination trip has different constraints. The first conversation establishes what's realistic and what the work actually involves.
Discuss a broader project
Romantic travel · Honeymoons

Planning a trip for two?

There's a dedicated page with an approach specifically designed for couples and honeymoons — with a closer focus on what makes that kind of trip different.

See the couples page
What clients say

In their words

We changed hotels based on Eric's recommendation after we'd already made a shortlist ourselves. That switch completely changed the tone of the trip — better neighborhood, quieter street, woke up feeling like we were actually in Paris.
Sarah & Michael T. Honeymoon · Paris, 10 days
Paris Signature
I'd spent three weeks building an itinerary in Notion. Eric looked at it in 20 minutes and told me which days were overloaded, which reservation I'd missed entirely, and why one of my hotel choices was a mistake. Worth every euro.
James R. Solo trip · Paris + Loire Valley
France Privée
The planning document became our reference the entire trip. We pulled it up every morning. Everything was sequenced properly — restaurants, museums, the right days to go where. We didn't make a single decision on the fly that we regretted.
The Chen family Family trip · 7 days Paris
Paris Signature

What the planning document looks like

Three sections of a real Signature deliverable — simplified and anonymized.

Day-by-day itinerary
5–7 days · structured by zone & rhythm
Hotel selection & rationale
2–3 options · written reasoning per property
Reservation timing guide
What to book now · what to wait on · what's overrated
How it works

A simple process — but demanding in its decisions

The goal isn't to have you fill out forms. It's to quickly understand what matters, then turn that into a clear structure you can actually use.

1

Project scoping

Dates, travel profile, expectations, the purpose of the trip, and real-world constraints.

2

Key decisions

Neighborhoods, hotel, pace, priorities, and what to avoid — the real choices are made upfront.

3

Building the plan

Itinerary construction, recommendation selection, and the logistics that tie it all together.

4

Final preparation

Validation, adjustments, and everything organized so you leave with clarity instead of a messy list.

Who this is for

This service fits a particular way of traveling

✦ This is right for you if…

  • this trip matters to you — it's not just another vacation,
  • you value quality of execution over volume of options,
  • you want to reduce the risk of bad decisions before you book,
  • you appreciate a local perspective that knows how to prioritize,
  • you want a trip that feels right, not just full.

✗ This isn't for you if…

  • you're just looking for a list of spots you could find on Google,
  • you're traveling on a very tight budget and need to minimize every expense,
  • you prefer planning everything yourself and don't need an outside perspective,
  • your trip is very short and doesn't call for real architectural thinking,
  • you want a full-service travel agency with bookings and packages included.
What local knowledge actually means

I know which hotels have changed in the last two years. Which neighborhoods feel different on a Tuesday than a Saturday. Which reservation needs to be made 4 weeks out.

That's not available on TripAdvisor.

My job is to translate that into decisions that serve your specific trip — not to give you a longer list to sift through yourself.

Every client brief starts the same way: understanding what this trip is actually supposed to be. Not generically — for you, with your constraints, your pace, your version of a good day in a city. That context is what turns a recommendation from plausible to right.

The result is a plan you can trust before you arrive — and navigate confidently once you're there.

Frequently asked questions

Things worth clarifying before we get started

Can't I just do this myself with Google, Reddit, and ChatGPT?

You can — and you'll find plenty of information. The problem isn't access to information. It's that without knowing Paris well, you can't tell which of those results applies to your specific situation, which hotels have quietly declined, which neighborhoods look good on a map but don't work for your pace, or which reservations actually need to be made 4 weeks out. The value here isn't research. It's judgment applied to your specific trip.

What exactly do I receive at the end?

For Paris Signature: a structured planning document covering your day-by-day itinerary, hotel selection with reasoning, curated address list by category (restaurants, experiences, neighborhoods), reservation timing guide, and a logistics brief for arrival and departure. It's designed to be navigable on your phone — not a 40-page PDF. For Paris Essentials and France Privée, the scope of the document matches the scope of the service.

How long does it take from first contact to final document?

Paris Essentials: 5–7 business days after the initial brief. Paris Signature: 10–14 business days, including two rounds of revision. France Privée: timeline established during the scoping conversation, typically 3–4 weeks. All timelines are confirmed before any payment is made.

What happens after I reach out?

I'll respond within 24 hours (business days) with a few clarifying questions about your trip. Once I have a clear picture of the project, I'll confirm which service makes sense and share the next steps. There's no payment until we've agreed on scope and timeline.

Is this a travel agency?

No. This is an independent planning and advisory service. I don't sell packages, earn commissions on hotel bookings, or have affiliations with any properties. My only interest is that the plan I give you is the right one for your trip. Reservations stay in your hands — you book directly, which also means you have full control and your points/miles if you have them.

What's the best option for a first important trip to Paris?

Paris Signature, in most cases. It's deep enough to structure the trip seriously — hotel, itinerary, reservations, logistics — without the multi-destination complexity of France Privée. It's also where the risk of getting things wrong is highest, because there are more decisions to make. If you're unsure, the first conversation will clarify it.

How does payment work?

Payment is in euros by bank transfer or card. The USD equivalents shown are indicative and based on current exchange rates — the exact dollar amount will vary slightly at time of payment. No payment is requested until we've agreed on the scope and you're comfortable moving forward.

Eric Martin
Your point of contact

Eric Martin

Travel Planner · Paris · Working with American travelers since 2018

I've been based in Paris for over a decade and work exclusively with English-speaking travelers planning significant trips to France. My clients are typically first-time Paris visitors with a real trip on the line — a honeymoon, an anniversary, a family milestone — who want the planning done with genuine expertise, not assembled from a template.

Most of my work comes through referrals and repeat introductions. I don't take every project. When I do, I'm available throughout the process, responsive, and direct about what I think — including when something the client wants won't actually serve them well.

First important Paris trip Honeymoon & anniversary Family milestones Independent travelers Not package travel
First step

If this trip really matters, it deserves to be planned before it's booked

Send a short note with your travel dates, who's going, and roughly what kind of trip you have in mind. I'll come back within 24 hours with a clear read on which service fits and what the next step looks like.

No commitment required. No sales pitch. Just a conversation about whether this makes sense for your specific trip.

Send me an email Message on WhatsApp

Useful to include: travel dates · group size · Paris only or beyond · budget range for accommodation · where you are in the planning process