My Family Booked a Last-minute Trip to Paris 2 Days in Advance-Here's Why We Would Do It Again

"I am an almost pathological travel planner. Some of this can be put down to my professional obligation as a travel writer-finding the next best place for people to visit takes work, starting many months out. But much of it is simply my personality, which borders on the obsessive-compulsive. (Yeah, I'm that guy on the plane listening to air-traffic control over the LiveATC app, to find out when we're going to be cleared for departure.)"

"Even spontaneous travel requires some planning: My basic requirements were a plane ticket and a hotel. A bit of luck also helps. By one of those unfathomable mysteries of airline pricing, the last-minute booking was, counterintuitively, lower than usual. I was also able to secure an affordable room for three at the Jeanne d'Arc Hotel, in the Marais-recommended! But from there, we essentially had no plan."

A meticulous travel planner made an uncharacteristic last-minute decision to visit Paris with his wife and daughter, securing unexpectedly affordable airfare and a room for three at a Marais hotel. The trip prioritized simplicity: a plane ticket and a hotel, followed by choosing one or two neighborhoods to explore on foot. That neighborhood-centered approach minimized transit time and maximized discovery. Planned stops like the Pinault Collection complemented serendipitous finds such as the Bibliothèque Forney's exhibit on department-store designers and Art Deco. Short-notice, flexible travel provided rewarding cultural encounters and pleasant surprises.

Read at Travel + Leisure