Hard to say about VRBO 927 without a street address. Rue de la Rouquette crosses the entire 11th arrondissement roughly east-west. The west end near Bastille is more lively, but I'd beware if the apartment were on the parallel rue Sedaine in that sector, as much of Sedaine and the triangle north of it bounded bouelvards Richard Lenoir and Voltaire is wholesale clothing shops. A safe area, but a little depressing for lack of other commerce. I'm not as familiar with the west end of Roquette, especially south of Roquette on the west end. North of Roquette there's quite a bit of recent construction. An okay area, not quite gritty but not too inspiring.

Rue Cardinal LeMoine, at least the straight stretch near the Seine, is not a particularly attractive street in my opinion but it does bound a very nice area of the 5th, just to the west.

The area close around the Alesia Metro in the 14th has good and varied commerce and qualifies as a "nice neighborhood."

Unsure of Pasteur in the 15th. But I suspect it's fine.

All of your requirements sound similar to my mother's and mine. We will be staying at a 1 bedroom apartment just off the Rue Cler market in the 7th arr. You can view it at www.hotelrelaisbosquet.com. Although prices vary according to season, we will pay 150E per night in September. There are summer specials though. Hope this helps!

Hers's another that is available (at least according to their calendar) and is in the 12th near Bastille. There was some discussion above about parts of this area being desirable and parts being not so desirable. I think, if I read it correctly, this was one of the okay areas. This is VRBO 43745.

"This two room apartment of 46 m2 is located next to the historic place de la Bastille in Rue du faubourg Saint Antoine, frequented by artist people, near Opéra. From the other side of the place, there is "le Marais" and within a short walk "la place des Vosges", with V.Hugo's house. In the faubourg, there are many shops, bars and further on in the street, the Famous Marché Daligre.

The apartment is in a Nineteenth Century building situated in an inside courtyard, "la cour du Bel Air", with many trees and flowers. Listed in the guides, as the most beautiful court of the faubourg."

Good hunting Jules! Yes, I would go for that apartment. I live on Faubourg St. Antoine, a little farther up toward Nation. It's a very busy street, but the courtyard should resolve that issue. Numerous good restaurants nearby.

I have a better idea.... Try parisbestlodge.com , he has a few really nice places in really good locations. I stayed in the Studio Rivoli (listed under "more apartments&quot and really loved it. It was located in the heart of Paris in the Marais district (4th arr. ). He has another that i have heard good things about called the Studio Mazarine which is in St Germain on a nice street. Both of these locations are very lively and full of cafes, bistros and shops.

This is just taste, obviously, as some of the areas of the 12th that Dave likes are areas I do not like. I don't think Sq Trousseau is very nice, for example, nor the immediate area. It's just a lot grimmer and dirtier around there than I'm used to in Paris, and a lot of the streets are narrower, and I just didn't like the area that well.

The apt. across from the Bastille oepra on fbg St Antoine is exactly the area I was describing that I didn't like and where I stayed. It's very noisy and crowded around that, particularl just off place Bastille. that's only about one block from rue de Lappe. I would never stay there myself. So, there you go -- completely different opinions.

Now I am partial to the left bank and have stayed longer term in the 14th and 15th so know those areas pretty well. I would consider both those apts., but really would like more specifics regarding addresses. Those ads are being very coy as to exact location, and I don't think either names even the exact metro stop. I suspect the one near Alesia could be on ave Rene Coty a few blocks north of Parc Montsouris rather than in the nice neighborhoods to the west of it. That wouldn't be such a great location from my point of view and isn't really near a metro stop.

The 15th one is probably near Sevres Lecourbe metro and that would probably be the one I'd consider most myself (depending on the exact address of the one in the 14th). I'd still want to know exactly where it is and on which street.

I agree with Dave about Cardinal Lemoine right near the Seine. Kind of dull and near a bunch of large institutions.

julies, I have not been having computer problems, but I confess that I am not a regular Fodor's visitor because the majority of the users here have different interests from myself.
My own recommendation of areas was for "nice yet working class" while voluntarily avoiding "gritty". I myself live in a gritty neighborhood which I like very much (Marx Dormoy) but most of the people here would be horrified by it, as it is mixed Indian, Chinese, Arab and African and is not the typical Parisian experience which a lot of people think should look only like Place Vendôme. Unfortunately, even in my neighborhood, a new 4-star hotel has just opened and the jetset is flocking there because it has the only "ice bar" in Paris (frozen room made completely out of ice and drinks served in glasses made of ice).
I think it is important to realize that there is no unsafe area in Paris, just areas where a little more caution should be exercised and valuables not flashed. The feeling of safety is extremely relative in any case, because one of the streets with the highest crime rate in Paris is the Champs Elysées and yet no one seems to feel unsafe there....

I'm partial to poorer neighborhoods, though my own 11th arrondissement haunts are on the endangered list. As Christina said, it's a matter of taste. Though for residents, there's an element of economics, as well. We could have landed on the rue de Bac in 1986. Almost did, in fact. And no doubt our lives would have been great if a little pinched in some other ways. I doubt, for example we would have traveled as much, or had adventures in French real estate. Instead we landed on rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud and have had 20 wonderful years in the 11th where "the streets are less clean and the people more friendly."

Thanks to the help from all of you I am still searching for what I think will be right for us. Our tastes and budget are way below those of most people who haunt these board. In fact, most of the suggestions I have gotten for "inexpensive" apartments are quite a bit more than I want to pay.

Travelling on the lower end enables us to take a lot more trips and has given us a taste of what the real European experience is, not just that of the 4* & 5* hotel crowd which is what so many of the people who use this forum tend to be. I thought I was going to die last week when people were seriously discussing paying E300 for a LUNCH.

That said, I guess my tastes probably run more toward the more genteel than gritty. Although we are by no means rich, we live in one of the nicer neighborhoods in Minneapolis but are very comfortable visiting and shopping in the more ethinc areas just a few miles away. But, for everyday life and just general walking around, I have to admit, I much prefer my own more upscale neighborhood.

Frankly, for an apartment in Paris though I'd really enjoy a neighborhood that is a part of a more interesting, less run down environment so that it will be fun to just stroll around as a part of our visit. Typically when we visit Europe we tend to pick gasthauses, pensiones, small family run 2* type hotels with at least some charm that are in better (whatever that is) neighborhoods.

Thanks to all of you for bearing with me. Now I'm just waiting for replies from possible apartments I've contacted. If you'd check this out in the next couple days I'd appreciate it, or I may just repost asking for all of your help again after I have some actual available places that meet our requirements. Thanks again.

ttt

I guess it's really subjective, though. I remember wandering around by--behind?--Bastille a couple of years ago and thinking it definitely had the air of a gentrified neighborhood. Newly gentrified, I suppose. I didn't find it particularly gritty at all but perhaps I missed those streeets/micro-areas. In fact, as I know I've said here before, on our first day over there we walked past Jean Paul Gaulthier and a "famous" (though not to me) French rapper.

Although I no longer see the property we rented, last trip we rented from panacherental.com. They have everything from Studios to larger properties & you should be able to find something in the proper locale to fit your budget.