Paris isn't always the place that springs to mind when you think of a cheap, budget, student week-end away, unless you were born in the 1950s and went there to smoke joints and appreciate the city d'amour literally. Paris is well known among the student travel circuit as being frustratingly over-priced. With the pound struggling against the Euro, a meal in an average restaurant can often set you back around £10, just for one course and some tap water.

My favourite place to eat in Paris, a typical, steamed-up windowed bistro on the left bank is foreigner-free, yet their huge bowl of Chevre-Chaud salad is still 13.50 Euro. A treat not to be missed, it still leaves a hole in your pocket, and one that could be spent elsewhere on river cruises (for the Parisian first timer) or trips into the Catacoombs (4 Euros a youth ticket for the macabre traveller).

Before you throw down your rough guide in despair, and vow to spend every summer from now on camping in Northumberland, just remember that many people without an income do manage to get round Paris pretty cheaply. One way of doing this is obviously to prioritise-a foody is likely to want to splurge on one michelin starred restaurant and sleep under a bench, whilst another may forego public transport and rely on their legs to get them around the city.

Walking around Paris isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it was the highlight of my last trip there. Staying in a very unpleasant hostel (I tried to search for it on hostelworld.com to warn you all, but it seems to have disappeared), our aim was to make the most of our Parisian three day break and leave early, partially to avoid the pervy manager who would 'clean' the dorm at 6am and partially because, as Bill Bryson attests, there is nothing so lovely and eye-opening as watching the city wake up, the shutters rolling up and the market food being rolled out for sale. This was the morning of new years eve, and my friend and I had decided to go and pick up some fruits and vegetables so we could make a stew at our mutual friends house. After picking up some vegetables and an enormous bag of chocolate apricots, we made our way home by following the river. But it was the wrong river. Literally five hours later, our hands burning with cold, we realised that we had strayed past the Canal-Saint Martin and were heading well out of the city into the 'banlieu', that of La Haine film fame.

Not wishing to be shot to death and miss out on 2011, we began our 5 hour trek back. This walk had opened my eyes to a different Paris. Not the Paris of the Eiffel Tower, of love or of expensive districts, but a Paris where washing was strung of washing lines out of windows, and where graffiti tarnished the fences and walls along the long, empty roads. The area around the Canal-Sanint Martin, formerly and industrial space was being regenerated with new flats and bridges and at midday markets were still bustling, with vendors selling mugs of steaming coffee and the smell of bread baking filled the misty, cold air.

Getting lost in Paris isn't necessary, but for your budget, nothing can beat a stroll out to the Bois de Boulougne, Parc de la Vilette or just heading towards Belleville (metro line 11) for a dose of cheap markets, oriental food stores and occasional rioting. Happy tramping!