Paris Walks - which neighborhood?

You really can't go wrong here. We took the Paris Walks tour of Montmartre some years ago and it was wonderful. The guide was Peter Caine, who co-owns the company with his wife, but it could well be someone else now (they're all good in my experience). I'm sure the others would be excellent too.

Maybe the tie-breaker should be the fact that Montmartre is on a hill and your unguided wandering might be somewhat constrained by the terrain. Do you really want to go up that steep street in case there's something interesting at the end? On a guided walk you'll go uphill, but you know there will be a worthwhile result, no "blind alleys" from a sightseeing standpoint. The Marais is basically flat, and the Latin Quarter slopes up a little from the river but not like Montmartre. You can cover more ground and be more casual in your solo wandering in those neighborhoods for the same expenditure of energy.

Or just read about the neighborhoods in a guidebook and pick the one that interests you most, or fits best with your other sightseeing goals. I'd hate to miss any of them.

All neighborhoods are just beautiful in Paris so you really can't go wrong on any of the walking tours offered by Paris Walks. We did the Marais 1, based on reviews on TA and there was something about #2 that did not appeal to me and I can't remember what it was now. I would love to do them all. You will really need to just read the descriptions and decide which would be more interesting to YOU. I had also planned on doing the Montmartre Walk but we missed it and landed up visiting Sacre Coeur on our own.

What Dick said.

I absolutely loved my Paris Walks tour of Montmartre and would highly recommend it. I did several self-guided walking tours of Paris but I'm so glad that I did the guided walk of Montmartre. The guide gave us so much additional information that I had not read about in the tour books that I got my self-guided walks from. Maybe having the guide is what made that walking tour stand out as my favorite in Paris.

What Dick, Karen, and Nancy said. We also walked with Peter and he is one passionate guide. It's true that you can't go wrong, too. For shear historic value, the Marais walks are excellent as well.

As others have said, you can't go wrong. If I had to rank them though ...
1) Marais
2) Latin Quarter
3) Montmartre

Are you going on a guided tour, or using the audio guides and doing it yourself?
A lot depends on the day of the week...
I live in the Marais, and certain streets are a zoo from Friday through Sunday - this is because many shops are open on Sunday, the main streets are "wall-to-wall" people and it's difficult to do or see much of anything. I would avoid this tour on the weekends, but any other day would be fine. If you plan to do much shopping, many stores are closed on Monday.
I would also avoid Montmartre on Saturday, Sunday, due to the crowds. Otherwise, if you can handle the incline - you can avoid the steps in many cases - this would be my choice.
The Latin Quarter tour would be the best bet if you have to go on the weekends. There's more room for the crowds to spread out, and the architecture is very interesting in this neighborhood.

You cannot go wrong here. I have done all 3 of those walks and found each one to be worthwhile but probably most enjoyed the one of Montmartre, due to my interest in the art of the area, but the Marais walks introduced me to the neighborhood I was in. You may want to choose the one closest to your temporary home in order to better know the area.

If you do not do the paris guided walk in Montmartre; I highly recommend you go their yourselves. I finally got to Montmartre last summer, and did a self guided walking tour. It's so different from the rest of flat Paris. Being high on a hill, the views are incredible, especially the view from Sacre Coeur Cathedral. You really must go inside the Cathedral as well, it is one of the most beautiful I have been in; beautiful mosaics!

My vote:
1-Marais- for falafel, Musee Carnavalet, and old non-Haussmann streets and buildings.
2-St. Germain des Pres from the Pantheon to Shakespeare and Company to Notre Dame and Ile St. Louis
3-7th arrondissement Rue Cler to American Church of Paris and down the river to Eiffel Tower and over the river to Trocadero
4-The first Sunday of the month is pedestrian only on the Champs d'Elysee

There is never enough time in Paris- just soak it up.
http://provenanceal.blogspot.fr/2016/05/a-day-in-celebration-of-higher-learning.html
http://provenanceal.blogspot.fr/2016/05/paris-modern-art-to-military-history.html
http://provenanceal.blogspot.fr/2016/05/paris-for-mothers-day.html
www.elizabethmcgriff.com

You might take a look @ this...

http://www.greeters.paris/?lang=e

These are all local volunteered who want you to love their neighborhoods as much as they do.

You do not need to take the first offering if it isn't what you had envisioned.

Though "free", donations are accepted.

I took the Village of Montmartre walk and the Medieval Latin Quarter walk and loved both of them. I'm not sure what you mean by getting a taste of local life, but I would say choose a tour that would meet most of your interests. The Montmartre tour guide discussed artists (Renoir, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, and Dalida the actress); the history of the neighborhood going all the way back to the third century AD; water problems and solutions; and the Moulin de la Galette.

The Latin Quarter guide talked about the history of the neighborhood going as far back as when the Romans built a city there; the nature of the neighborhood with regard to bookshops and small colleges prevalent in the Middle Ages; the medieval churches of St.-Severin and St. Julien-le-Pauvre; and the Roman bathhouse next to the Cluny Museum.