Budget Travel - Frugal Paris

WELL before midsummer, the sun sets late over Paris. Even at 9 p.m., you can sit on the banks of the Canal St.-Martin in the 10th Arrondissement, and see in the still water the reflection of the sky, a blue mottled with thin clouds, and the low pale buildings with their amber lights just turned on, and the ruffled, fractal edge of the trees in full green bloom. Night seems as if it will never come.

Hotels from 32 euros, free museums admission, and affordable bites & shopping: http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/travel/28frugalparis.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Just came across another article from the NY Times about not necessarily the best but free music & entertainment in Paris: http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/the-wide-parisian-world-of-free-music/

On my final night, I wanted to hear a distinctly French band live, and I followed a friend’s advice to check out ARLT, whom she called “a modern update on French chanson — lead singer is quirky and charismatic.”