Bartsmom,
Your trip sounds like great fun. We spent four months in Paris last year and here's my two cents about apartments/location etc.

1) Don't hesitate to look beyond the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th , 6th, 7th arrondissements you mentioned. Paris has great public transport and you have two months. I would look more widely, you'll find things are cheaper a little further out, which could mean more space. I wouldn't hesitate to look at the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13, 14th, 15th, 19th, 20th etc. They are some lovely areas in these arrondissements.

2) Agency fees can add up for a several month stay so I'd go with vrbo.com, homeaway.com or sabbaticalhomes.com. I contacted a pile of people on air bnb last year and found that they were making so much on their daily or short term rentals that they couldn't offer me an affordable monthly rate.


3) You may have trouble with the Avios, we used ours but we had to book a long time in advance and work around the dates they had. Try flights just as far as London and you may have more luck.

4) You may find our experience helpful. You can see my Paris posts at my blog
http://somuchmoretosee.blogspot.com/search/label/Paris

Hope this helps!

You might also try the Paris site of Airbnb. https://www.airbnb.com/s/Paris--France
Use that site with the same caution you approach any owners' listing site; read the reviews carefully, only consider those with lots of positive reviews, and ask any and all questions you have of the owner.

One protection Airbnb provides is that, even though you pay up front, the owner does not get the money until 24 hours after you check in, so you have time to call the 24/7 hotline if there are any problems when you arrive.

as a word of advice, if you are having problems, maybe you shouldn't be so picky given your low budget. For example, insisting that you must stay in the most expensive areas. You are there 2 months, that isn't necessary. Maybe drop the internet requirement, also, or washing machine if you have to, there are laundromats in residential areas of Paris and to be honest, a lot of apts only have washers and not dryers, anyway. October is a very very busy month in Paris, also, although November not so bad, and this is only a few months away, that's the problem, although with the requirements.

I would have thought you might find something on VRBO or Homeaway, but there are lots of other websites that have some long-term rentals, just the real tourist vacation ones might not have much (and will cost more, anyway). But you need to look at more local French websites, like ones I use.

here is one
www.lodgis.fr

Now they have some apts that fit your criteria except for the arrondisement (it is in the 14th, an area I like)
http://www.lodgis.com/fr/paris,locat...is-14.mod.html

sure, it's not fancy, but you can't get fancy for that budget.
This one is in the 11th and even has a dryer, not just a washer http://www.lodgis.com/fr/paris,locat...is-11.mod.html
This one actually does fit your requirements and is in the 2nd http://www.lodgis.com/fr/paris,locat...ris-2.mod.html
This one fits your requirements and is in the 9th (it probably looks the nicest of these) in a decent area, I know it http://www.lodgis.com/fr/paris,locat...ris-9.mod.html

That is the cheapest website I know and the one with the most long term rentals. I have rented from them, they do a good job (the agency, each apt has private owner).

BTW on lodgis.fr the monthly rental rates don't include the agency fee, as I recall. But the calculator tells you the final fee with that included. So for 2 months, you need to look for a rental that is 1500 euro a month or less. That ends up being about $4900 for the 2 month period when the agency fees are added in.

Agency fees are irrelevant, it's the bottom line that matters. Plenty of places on VRBO are rented as just as high rates as agencies charge.

Just out of curiosity, I sampled some Airbnb (whole apartment) places in the 12th, and these are the first two that came up. The first is a bit over your budget, but you can see that some do rent by the month. The second is pretty basic, but I don't think you expect the Ritz on your budget.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1037875

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/570123

It think there's some missing logic here. Originally you were considering staying in the boonies and commuting to Paris and now you won't even consider the 14th or 18th? The Paris Metro system is so good that it won't take you much time to get to the center of Paris.

During the 2 months you'll probably be exploring these areas making them central for part of the trip. If you stay in the 5th, for example, you're not central to the 16th, 18th, or 20th.

You have so much time in Paris; what's the difference where you stay as long as it's within the peripherique and clean and near some sightseeing?

The places you've found look just fine and you are correct we expect basic - just clean.
Thanks for your assistance in searching. The problem with lodgis is that the price is plus the fees and plus utilities and that really adds up.
Airbnb has possibilities but we've contacted many and so far the one's that have responded don't want to rent for that period of time. The others have not yet responded. Frustrating.

Thank you so much!

Don't worry about an apartment having a washing machine. We found the appliances to be so small that we still went to the laundromat where we could get large loads done quickly. And we never had trouble finding laundromats

We have also had difficulty booking with Avios unless we booked far in advance. We found it worked best when we called and spoke to an agent rather than trying to book online. We found the BA agents to be really helpful and since you have a two month timeframe it maybe easier for them to find dates for you.

Robert2533
Thanks for your contribution! Parisatitude looks affordable on the surface, but when renting on a monthly basis utilities, insurance and agency fees are not included and make it outside our budget. Thanks. Rechecked it.

Paris is an expensive city. Unless you exist on sandwiches, crepes, and free church concerts, your budget seems quite tight for a productive two-month stay. An apartment is just the start. Do you need to be there for that long?

but if you stay IN Paris, you don't spend money travelling in and out all the time because you can walk and/or buy cheap travel passes.

and if you're in an apartment, you can cut down on living costs quite a lot by eating in, making your own sandwiches, etc.

a compromise might be to stay in Paris for a month, and outside Paris for the rest of the time, though having a car might be necessary for getting about unless you stay somewhere big, which might well prove expensive as well.

What about considering shortening your trip? One month in Paris would be a wonderful amount of time to be there. It sounds like your daughter will be quite independent. You could book your trip to start prior to her arrival at her sports camp so you could have some family time together in Paris and then visit her a few times.