Francoise was such a perfect hostess! Where to even begin...

First and foremost, she was so easy to communicate with, at all times. She was helpful, quick to respond, and went above and beyond to ensure we were accommodated. She had nice towels, bottles of water, even a little basket of toiletries in case you forget shampoo or soap or anything like that.

She left a key for us when she learned we weren't going to get in until late, which was nice! Her dog Zoe is sweet and adorable, and we loved getting our "puppy fix" since we were away from ours.

Her home is LOVELY. The photos do not do it justice. The bed is comfortable and bathroom clean, and overall, she has great taste and we truly got a taste of her worldly travels through all her gorgeous rugs and artifacts.

The house is also in a very convenient location! It's about a six-block walk up to St. Charles for the streetcar, but only 1/2 block for the RTA/bus. I'll give some tips on that below!

Of course, when we left, we wanted to provide a gift as a thanks—and being that Francoise is French and her house is on Bordeaux, I bet you can guess what we decided to leave for her.

Thanks so much, Francoise!

Tips for travelers:

- Use the bus. It's so easy—take the 11 for a straight shot down Magazine Street, all the way to Canal, on the edge of the quarter. You can find the scheduled times using Google Maps, but look at the RTA website for actual arrival times. The only issue we had was that it sometimes arrived late, but otherwise, it was great! It's $1.25 each way, but you can buy a $3 day pass from the driver that works on all buses and streetcars. So nice!

- Surrey's Uptown is a block away, and it's a can't-miss breakfast spot. We went on our first and last days, and loved it both times. So nice to have that within walking distance.

- La Boulangerie is just a couple of blocks down Magazine St. in the other direction. Francoise will point you to it—but just wanted to confirm that it's great. We loved our Americanos and almond croissants!

We highly recommend staying with Francoise. We would absolutely visit her again on our next trip to New Orleans.