Kellybiensur, have a beautiful trip! And it sounds like the apartment will be fine. I am happy it all worked out for you. Enjoy every moment.

Kellybiensur, is there an elevator at the Relais Bosquet? I have checked many websites and can't find one that says there is an elevator.

That area around the Invalides and place Vauban is extremely quiet. The 7th in general is known as a retirement and diplomatic district. A ground-floor apartment presents no security risks (neither would it anywhere in Paris, but the 7th is _especially_ quiet). That part of Paris is quiet as a tomb in the evening. There isn't going to be any street noise, as the streets around there are small and nobody is driving down them in the evening unless he lives in the area (and the retirees go to sleep early).

I don't understand why people think Paris is such a dangerous place. Or do they feel just as worried about ground-floor apartments in their own towns?

Anthony GA, our ground floor apartment was in a nice part of the 16th (Auteuil). Yet the concierge warned us that kids from the HLMs would pop around the neighborhood trying to get into the apartment and steal things if the security blinds weren't rolled down. And one evening, while we were having dinner in the apartment with the windows open, a bunch of kids walked by and threw lit cigarettes and trash into the apartment. My large, half-German and short-fused husband and our friend (ex Marine) chased them down the street and one of the mouthier kids would have been in serious trouble had an off duty policeman not come up and calmed things down. He knew the kids were local troublemakers and promised to follow up with it.
I dont recall anyone here saying Paris was particularly "dangerous." But things do happen in ANY big city, and adolescents looking for mischief can be found *everywhere*--even Paris.
You are being naive if you think it is perfectly safe to leave security blinds up on ground floor apartments while you're not at home. It isn't. (Not to mention having to explain to the insurance company covering the losses why you didn't bother to do something as simple as rolling down your security blinds before leaving home.) Walk though any residential area during a holiday period and look at all the apartments even on higher floors that have their security blinds down.

A lot of scum ride in on public transit on Fridays and Saturdays, and some of them cruise the 16th because that's where all the people with real jobs live. However, the 7th is rarely disturbed, as it's a much longer walk from the RER stations and the dregs that pass the time that way don't seem to see it as such a target. It's a sleepy part of town.

There's no harm in putting down security blinds if you plan to be away, but living in fear isn't much fun, either, especially when there's no justification for it. I personally never have windows open on a ground-floor apartment at all, not because of any security concerns, but simply because I don't want people looking at me like a store window as they pass (I've seen other people--in the 16th, no less--who apparently don't care, as they go about their business in their living rooms with the large windows wide open onto the sidewalk).