Although we’ve made NO reservations for our vacation in April/May yet, I’ve amassed a list of apartments in Paris (and London), tossing what didn’t appeal to me or didn’t fit the bill. Once Husband reviews and narrows what he doesn’t like, I’m hoping for a shorter list to ask about.

Is parisattitude.com a “good” option? I see quite a few with no reviews, which makes me hesitate about them. The listed costs include agency fees. Admittedly, most of the places in our budget are rather plain, but they would be at that level regardless of agency/listing, I’m assuming.


About Navigo Decouverte: We will be taking the eurostar on a Monday, getting to Paris early afternoon. For this reason, I’m considering getting the ND instead of buying a carnet. Also, we plan on going to both Versailles and Disney. The Visite Card doesn’t even appear a viable option compared to these two.

A week ND for zones 1-5 is 34.40 E (+5 E for the card), while Versailles is 8.20 E and Disney is 13.40 E (total 21.60 E). Subtracting gives 17.8 E--or roughly 10 trips during that week. This would include our initial trip from Gare du Nord to our hotel and likely getting to/from the RER stations for Versailles and Disney--likely 3 trips out of 10 already, if we stayed very close to either RER station. It wouldn’t include our last Monday nor Tuesday’s travel to CDG--those would have to be separate. Can’t have everything, right?

The difference between buying ND cards and buying RER-tickets+carnet seems to be rather small, and going more to personal preference rather than cost. Provided, of course, that we don’t lose the ND.

Have I analyzed this correctly? The differences lessening, primarily because we are able to take advantage of the Monday arrival and staying the entire week?

I suspect I will be posting more threads at time approaches, though I will be searching other threads for answers first. As I’ve posted elsewhere here, I tend to front-load (or overkill, if you prefer) my research and prep.

propita, I have recently mentioned Paris Attitude for apartment rentals since I found them while doing an exhaustive search for a 3 bedroom 2 bath rental with a location we liked, could afford and with no one sleeping on a sofa bed. I discovered the company while searching apartment reviews on the Slowtravel website--I know I looked through dozens of Paris agency websites, VRBO and Homeaway trying to find the right apartment. I'm not aware of anyone on Fodor's using them.

Our rental with them will be in June and hopefully I will have a very positive review of the apartment. I've been very pleased with my communications with Paris Attitude and also with the owner of the rental.

Regarding the navigo decouverte, we bought them for the first time this past September. We had always used the carnets in the past. Remember a very small photo is needed. We used the photo machine and our photos are 7/8 of an inch by 3/4 of an inch. Now I'm wondering what I can do with the other 15 photos that came on the sheet Have a great trip. Deborah

PS I just noticed your post was tagged Austria but that shouldn't keep people here from seeing your questions about Paris

I would also check out reviews on TripAdvisor for the apartments; it can't hurt to have too many opinions. As for the ND, we have just preferred to buy carnets, but we're usually in Paris for a week or less, and it hasn't been worth the effort for me to use ND.

Re: ND - after years of deliberatively calculating to the projected euro cent, I have concluded that the sheer convenience of the ND is worth it. No need to worry about how many tickets remain from the carnet, to keep separate the used and unused tickets, and being able to jump on and off public transport (especially buses) at whim is marvelous.

As for the required photo, you can bring one with you. No need for studio quality, something you print out at home (in color) on regular paper is fine.

Paris Attitude has a lot of cheaper apartments. I think you will have trouble finding massive reviews on most apartments on websites. I think it's a perfectly reasonable option if they have what you want in your budget, why not. I've read reviews from people who've used them with no problem.

I think people worry about exactly what metro ticket to buy too much, it doesn't matter if the cost difference is only a few euro either way. If you intend to go back to Paris within the next few years, I suppose it would make more sense to get the ND if you keep it. I think it can be convenient to have one card.

Some people can't figure out how to buy or use the ND, you MUST have a photo, this is not optional as I've read some people claim. And you have to put it together properly. If your photo isn't the right size, it will need to be trimmed to fit the spot, for example, and you stick it in this plastic case.

If you intend renting an apartment you need to find out if any on your list are available for your dates. Many apartments book up early. You'd hate to get through all of the reviews and decision making only to find out that your choice is not an option.

Thanks all! Sorry about the mis-tag! Oh my, what a rookie mistake. So embarrassed.

We will, per many people here, be printing out our own pics, for both Paris and London (where I know to get my pass from a TRAIN station, not underground).

I'm even getting the credit card stuff worked through, with a true pin-and-chip (1% FTF--our secondary card), a pin-and-sig (0% FTF--our primary card), and an ATM card (reimbursed ATM fees at a bank ATM, but 1% FTF--good enough). Our fees will be minimal and paid upon return anyway, so that part's good to go.

Once we get the flight and lodgings worked out, I'll focus on the phones and details. I have lots of sightseeing info but I keep adding to it! It'll get trimmed, but occasionally I come across some new piece of info that may prove very useful. As I said, I front load the work so that I don't have to worry as much when I'm there and not being online.