I am martinn your host

I was born in Paris and raised in a French family with cousins in UK and USA.    Holding gourmet meals for friends is in the family DNA
 Then educated as a pharmacist; it taught me to be rigorous, to question myself,  (as a pharmacist it is allowed not to know everything but not allowed to make mistakes) and the love of blending ingredients Ah Ah !
 I owned a pharmacy on rue Montorgueil before moving to the USA with my family with 3 young children for 3 years and we were completely immersed in the American culture.
Upon return to France, I did not want to go back to pharmacy as I had caught “the international mood virus” .
So I volunteered on the board of parents at the International School before my 3 children attended Universities in US and UK. 2 are now living in London.
While staying in Paris,  while being French, I live in an English speaking and  Anglo- Saxon culture most of the time.
This job is exactly what I dreamed of, and drew when I was a child: a house full of windows and doors to welcome people and smoke out of the chimney suggesting good meals were on their way.

Since I started hosting professionally in 2007 I have learned a lot about the profession and about myself.
I have realized that hosting people with such different culture and life styles, helped me keeping open minded and tolerant.
I have realized that I feel happier when I host and help guests to get their personal experience in Paris.
I love the endless search about Paris, food, art.

There is much competition in Paris from the OTAs (online travel agents, platforms), but it’s an incentive to be creative,  find new ways to work differently. I meet wonderful people, real people versus  emotionless machines.  Other ways to work that correspond exactly to what I want to offer.

Thanks to my fluent English,  to my knowledge of Anglo Saxon culture, to the time and willingness to listen, to my numerous connections, to my knowledge of Paris, to my cooking and blending skills, to my love for good food, for art , history and architecture; thanks to all my readings and practice about the “invisible” differences between cultures,  I am able to help my guests get confortable and enjoying their Parisian break, .

Thanks to my ability to adapt, my freedom after breaking away from these platforms,  I am still able to host wonderful guests, looking for an authentic host, a custom designed service.  I host very different styles of guests, expecting different styles of sojourns and that’s the challenge I enjoy. Giving my guests what they are looking for. Proposing, not imposing.

This is one of the best time to be in the hospitality  business and make a difference.
After the crisis, more people want to travel but traveling is not taken for granted anymore.
People prefer an authentic sojourn according to their likes and inclinations rather than a “one can fit all”; they are willing to meet real people.

I believe in sustainable tourism and that every gesture tending to reduce  global warming  is an excellent gesture, even if small.
I favor long sojourns, quote per night and week decreases with the length of stay.
I offer special quotes for guests staying a month or more, with an assignment in Paris.

Along the years I have built a loyal audience, coming back, sending friends and family. I have developed many services and will continue as there are many other possibilities  to explore and expectations evolve constantly.