How to go back to Paris
How I did it: Made a bunch of to-do lists and timelines, but in the end, the most crucial aspects were: 1) Deciding on exact travel dates. 2) Clearing these dates with my boss at work. 3) Booking a flight. 4) Booking a hotel (compiling a list of potential hotels and contacting them; corresponding with a hotel several times to clarify things; choosing the hotel). Everything else was gravy in the sense that getting there, having a place to stay while there, and having enough money for the hotel, food, entertainment, etc., were the three most important things.
I was kind of stressing on all my other "to-do"s -- planning my itinerary, etc. -- but in the end just let go of a lot of that. I brought a travel guide and map with me, and just took it day-by-day. The night before I would decide where exactly I wanted to go the next day.
Lessons & tips: Walk, walk, walk! I first fell in love with Paris while walking around semi-aimlessly, just taking in the sights.
You don't have to have everything planned down to a "t" -- not in a place like Paris, anyway, where most everything is easily accessible by metro and on foot. The main thing is just: what metro do I need to get off at to get where I want to go? What else is in the area that I can check out while I'm there?
I stayed in Paris for the whole three weeks, save for a 2-day trip to London. This meant I didn't have to rush so much. We still did plenty on any given day, but it was at our own pace. We slept in, stayed up late, sat at parks for a few hours. We weren't just running from place to place. I think this made all the difference.
I speak French, which I think was very helpful -- people seem to respond well when they see you're making the effort to speak the native language. Even if it's hello, thank you, and please, try to learn a few phrases before you go.
