House sitting means spending your holiday in Paris in the flat of a Parisian who has gone on holiday, in exchange for looking after their cat. No hotel, no rental, no deposit, and no money between you and them. You have the flat to yourself, for a long weekend or a week, with one serious obligation: the cat must be fine. It will still hold it against you that you are not its usual human.
What exactly is house sitting?
It fits in one sentence: a Parisian goes on holiday, and rather than putting their cat in a cattery (we compare the two options here, in French), they hand their flat to someone who moves in while they are away. You sleep there, you feed the cat, you clean the litter tray, you play with it. In return, you have a place to stay. In France it is called home sitting or garde de maison, and our house sitting page explains it from the owner’s side.
It is not couchsurfing, and it is not a room in someone’s home: the owner has gone. Nobody will ask you to free up the bathroom before 8 a.m., nobody will tell you about their day. Except the cat, who has a lot of opinions and no sense of privacy.
And it is not a job either: you are not paid, you do not pay. The flat is the exchange, the cat is the mission. A fair deal, the kind Paris rarely offers.
The great Parisian misunderstanding, finally useful
Every summer, the same scene: Parisians flee Paris, and the rest of the world wants to come. They head for Brittany, you dream of the Canal Saint-Martin. They close their shutters, you look for a room. Meanwhile, thousands of flats sit empty, with a cat inside.
House sitting fixes that misunderstanding. The owner leaves with peace of mind, the cat keeps its habits, its sofa and its radiator, and you spend your holiday in a real Parisian flat. Everyone wins.
Except the cat, who asked for none of this. It will let you know at 5 a.m.
Who house sits in Paris?
People often think it is reserved for globetrotters going round the world from sofa to sofa. In Paris, the crowd is far more varied. There is the student from Lyon who wants to see Paris for more than a rushed weekend, the young woman from Madrid dreaming of Montmartre, the retired couple from Manchester who adore cats but no longer have one.
There are also Parisians who moved away and come back every summer to see their old neighbourhood, travellers who prefer a kitchen to a minibar, and everyone who has looked at the price of a hotel room in August once too often.
What you get out of it, apart from a door code
A holiday without a hotel bill. The maths is quick, and your bank account will do it for you. The money saved on the room goes on café terraces, museums and bakeries. Mostly bakeries. And perhaps a cat café (in French), so you don’t lose the knack.
Paris as a local. A week in Montmartre, ten days in the Marais, a long weekend near the Buttes-Chaumont. You finally know the corner bakery, the Sunday market and the neighbour who waters his geraniums in a dressing gown. No hotel will give you that.
A real home. A kitchen for dinner from the market, a sofa for the end of the day, maybe a balcony, and a cat settling down on your unfolded metro map.
An Airbnb alternative, with a cat thrown in
When you look for somewhere to stay for a holiday in Paris, you often end up on holiday rental sites. House sitting is a close cousin: you also sleep in a real Parisian’s flat, with their bookshelves, their kitchen and their view over the rooftops. The difference is that you pay no rent: you are doing someone a favour.
In exchange, two things change. The dates are the owner’s, not yours: you arrive when they leave and hand back the keys when they return. And there is a four-legged flatmate, with its habits and its demands. If your dates are flexible and you love cats, it is hard to beat. If you want to pick your nights à la carte, a classic rental remains simpler, or one of the other Airbnb alternatives in Paris.
One more difference: the reviews are left by the cat.
It is a harsh critic.
When to go: follow the Parisians’ holidays
Stays open when Parisians leave. Summer, and above all August, is the high season: the city empties, the terraces breathe, and listings multiply. Then come the French school holidays (late October, February, spring), Christmas and New Year (plenty of Parisians go away for the holidays and leave the cat in Paris, in French), and the long weekends in May, which Parisians string together with remarkable talent.
The right reflex: leave your dates early on the Become a house sitter page, so you hear as soon as a stay opens. Owners plan their holidays well ahead, and the best flats go quickly.
What is expected of you, plainly
You are on holiday, the cat is not. The mission is simple, but it is serious: feed the cat, keep its water bowl clean, look after the litter tray, play with it, and follow the owner’s instructions to the letter. On The Cat Society, those instructions are written in the listing before you commit: no surprises on the day.
In practice, you plan your days as you like: museums, café terraces, lie-ins, anything goes (for the lie-in, do check with the cat). It just needs a little attention every day, and you sleep at the flat: a day trip to Versailles, yes; three days at Mont-Saint-Michel, no.
You are also expected to treat the flat like your own, only better. The plants stay alive, the dishes do not pile up, and the place is handed back as you found it, or slightly tidier (the owner will not say anything, but they will notice).
Finally, send news. The owner is on a beach 800 km away and thinks about their cat more than they will admit. One photo a day is enough to reassure them, and it is what gets you invited back.
5 qualities of a good house sitter
1. Reliable with dates. An owner books their tickets counting on you. Arriving before they leave and staying until they are back is the bare minimum. Everything else can be fixed. Not that.
2. Comfortable with cats. And above all with their personality. On day one, it ignores you. On day two, it watches you from the top of the wardrobe. On day three, it sleeps on your suitcase.
That is a good sign.
3. Careful. You are living in someone’s private space: their books, their kitchen, their sofa. Discretion is the finest form of politeness.
4. Chatty, but just enough. A photo, a short message, and nobody asks for more. Thirty videos a day, on the other hand, and the owner cuts their holiday short.
5. Self-reliant. The temperamental boiler, the door code that changes, the key that sticks a little: a good house sitter looks, asks, and does not panic. If there is a real problem, they tell the owner, and The Cat Society team is there to back them up.
How to find a house sit in Paris
The big international house sitting platforms exist, but they cover the whole world, and many of their listings are in the countryside, with a dog, two horses and a vegetable patch. If your dream is a Parisian flat with a cat on the windowsill, look where those flats are.
That is exactly the patch of The Cat Society, a platform designed only for Parisian cats (who we are). It takes four steps:
Leave your dates. Your email and availability are all it takes to receive new stays by email, for free, with a one-click unsubscribe link.
Create your account and get your identity verified. Until you do, owners cannot see you. Five minutes of hassle, reassurance the rest of the time, for them as much as for you.
Apply to the stays you like. Dates, home and cat instructions are written in black and white. A badge shows owners whose identity is verified, and you can read the reviews other sitters have left about them.
Arrange the key handover with the owner in the messaging, then enjoy Paris.
Before you pack, one detail that matters: insurance. Our article on liability insurance and house sitting protections (in French) covers what to check, on both sides. And the Safety & trust page explains what we verify.
Mistakes that cost you a second invitation
Throwing a party for twenty in a 35 m² flat on rue des Martyrs. Moving the cat’s basket “because it looked better by the window”. Renaming the cat for the week, because “Gribouille, honestly, it doesn’t suit him”. Sending no news for ten days, then a blurry photo on the morning of their return.
And the most common one: handing back the keys late, because the return train was “really cheap the next day”. The owner is coming home from holiday with a suitcase of laundry, and the cat has views on the matter.
In short
For a holiday in Paris, you have a choice: a 12 m² hotel room overlooking the courtyard, or a real Parisian flat with a cat on the sofa.
One small difference: at the hotel, breakfast is served to you.
Here, you are the one serving it.
Already living in Paris?
Then house sitting is not for you, but Parisian cats still need you. Become a cat sitter: home visits or care at your place, close to where you live. And for every other question, there is the FAQ.
Fancy a holiday in Paris as a house sitter?
Leave your email and your dates: we’ll let you know for free as soon as a stay opens.
Get new stays by emailFrequently asked questions
Is house sitting in Paris really free?
You pay no hotel, no rental and no deposit, and no money changes hands between you and the owner: the accommodation is what you get in return for looking after the cat. Leaving your dates to receive new stays by email is free. To apply, you need to become a house sitter member of The Cat Society; the terms are on the Become a house sitter page.
Is house sitting a good alternative to Airbnb?
Yes, if your dates are flexible and you love cats: you stay in a real Parisian flat without paying rent. No, if you want to choose your dates to the night: they are the owner’s, and a cat is waiting for your care every day.
How long does a house sit last?
As long as the owner’s holiday: a long weekend, a week, sometimes two or three in summer. The dates are written in the listing before you commit.
When are there the most house sits in Paris?
When Parisians leave: summer and above all August, the French school holidays, Christmas and New Year, and the long weekends in May. Leave your dates to be told as soon as a stay opens.
Can I go sightseeing all day during a house sit?
Yes, you are on holiday and you plan your days freely. You just need to look after the cat every day and sleep at the flat: a trip of several days outside Paris is not compatible with a house sit.
Do I need to speak French to house sit in Paris?
Not necessarily: in the app’s messaging, conversations are translated automatically. Owners often suggest a video call to get to know you before the stay, so a few words of a shared language help. The site is also available in English and Spanish.