Hi Everyone!

I recently got back home from a trip to Paris with my Mom. Earlier this year, I asked several questions on this board to help plan for my trip; specifically, I wanted to know about renting an apartment. Many fodorites were wonderful in helping me out and I wanted to let everyone know that our apartment, Pastis through Paris Hideaways, worked perfectly for us. You will find information at the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/27tbaa


APARTMENT INFO:

First of all, the apartment was in our budget and it was very clean and safe. Secondly, we loved the Marais neighborhood and its location on Rue des Rosiers, not far from the St. Paul metro stop. Finally and most importantly, I don’t hesitate to recommend the apartment agency and owner. Katia at Paris Hideaways was very professional and easy to work with in answering all of my many questions and in booking the apartment. Once the apartment was booked, I dealt with Thierry, the apartment owner. He was always very pleasant and quick to answer my questions through email.

A little bit of info on the reservations process… Initially, when I booked the apartment, I had to pay a deposit of 60 euros to secure our reservations. Then, the final balance was due to the owner upon arrival at the apartment (cash). At this time, I also had to pay a security deposit of about 500 euros – either in cash or personal check (I chose to use a check). I was a little nervous about the security deposit part, but everything went smoothly and Thierry returned my check to me at check out – he had told me that he has never had to cash anyone’s security deposit.

PHOTOS:

I have some photos of our trip, including photos of our apartment, available for viewing on flickr: http://tinyurl.com/ywa7c7


A FEW TIPS:

So much information is already available here on fodors about Paris, so I don’t have a whole lot to say that hasn’t already been stated, but there are two things that I would highly recommend. One, the museum pass worked out beautifully for us – most importantly, we were able to skip all of the lines. The reason why it worked out so well for us is because I took a lot of time before we left deciding how we would use the Museum Pass - on what days and with what sights. We went with a 2-day museum pass to see the museums and sights we were interested in seeing in Paris and then purchased Le Passporte for Versailles, that we used on a third day, that included the train tickets, entrance, and audioguides.

Secondly, I recommend Rick Steves Paris 2007 book. I know a lot of fodorites don’t care for Rick Steves, but his Paris book was very helpful, particularly in helping us to determine how to visit sights at less crowded times. We also really enjoyed his neighborhood walks and museum tours.

Please feel free to ask any questions, etc. Once again, thanks to all for your help in planning my trip.

Nice pictures. I especially liked the ones that incorporated the leaves changing colors. Never a bad time of year to be in Paris.

Any restaurants you would like to recommend..I saw La Citrouille in your pics.

Info on appartment (use of facilities, noise,etc...)

Mike

Bailey,

Thanks for your report and your pictures - they were all lovely! I've never been to Paris in the fall, and the sights looked gorgeous against the fall colors!

How long was your trip? Don't worry to post more details...most of us love long trip reports. I just went back in May with my sister and our friend - traveling with family is always interesting!

Are all of Paris Hideaways apartments privately owned? Yours looked incredible, and what a bargin! Was it nosy though with it being on such a busy street?

forgot to add...

Was this you and your Mom's first time in Paris? If so, what did you both think about it?

Bailey, I loved the photos, especially the two of the vendors' stalls along the river. Very nice.

There is one photo of Place des Vosges taken from what appears to be the third or fourth floor of one of the buildings surrounding the square. Where were you when you took that picture?

Anselm

Bailey may have had a different viewpoint, but I was able to get photos of Place Vosges from a top floor of the Victor Hugo house which is open to the public.

Palette, when I saw the photo, that's exactly where I thought she was.
Great photos, Bailey. I was in Paris 11/3 to 10 and my photos didn't capture the fall foliage like yours did.

Thank you for all for the compliments on my photos. I really enjoy photography and I'm always trying new techniques, etc to improve my photos.

Michel_Paris - I do not have a lot of recommendations for restaurants since a lot of our meals consisted of crepes, paninis, or other food bought on the street. The weather was still pretty nice for picnics. We really enjoyed our prix fixe meal for 15 euros at La Citrouille. My main entree of roast duck was very good. We also enjoyed our dinner at Camille, located not far from our apartment. We both had something similiar to a pot roast with winter vegetables for 19 euros. Then, of course, I loved my falafel sandwich at L'As du Fallafel - that's a must! We were fortunate enough to stop by at 11 am on Sunday when they just opened with no lines. an hour later there were two very long lines.


Anna - I'm not sure if all of the apartments are privately owned or not, but I got that impression. I forgot to mention in my original post that it was completely noise-free which was shocking to me with our location - basically right over Chez Marianne (which I didn't get a chance to try). We had double windows and we didn't directly face the street - we were on the side.

AnselmAdorne - palette is right - the photo was taken from Victor Hugo's apartment.

Thanks, Bailey. I'll have to go in and take a picture.

AA

Oh, I forgot to answer a few other questions -

Our trip was for 5 nights. This was my Mom's first trip to Paris and it was my second - the first was a high school trip that took place 11 years. I'm amazed, and I think my Mom is as well, by how much we enjoyed the museums since we generally are not museum people. The museums in Paris are so interesting between their beautiful pieces of art and the beautifully historical buildings that house the art.

One more thing about the apartment's low noise level - there wasn't a whole lot of car traffic on Rue de Rosiers since it's such a small street - I'm sure that helped to keep the noise down.

Thanks so much for the update on the apartment. I remember when you were looking for one and I really liked the one you chose, I'm very glad it worked out so well.

bailey,
Beautiful photos!!! Thanks so much for sharing these. It looks like the museums are a lot less crowded than when we were there in April. Could this be true?

Thanks for your report and your beautiful photos.  I am taking my 15 y.o. daughter to Paris in March (my first time there, her second), and we are staying in the Marais as well.  In fact, at the Caron de Beaumarchais, which appears in your photo of the parked bicycles.  Do you have favorite pâtisseries, cafés or other shops that we shouldn't miss?

artlover - I'm glad that you liked the photos. I'm not sure about how the crowds compare - I haven't been in April, but maybe someone else could comment...

samsmom - I think that you will really like the location of your hotel. My Mom and I bought our groceries, etc at that market on the corner (right next door to your hotel) and the young man that always waited on us was always so friendly. There's also a lot of cafes and shops in that area. I loved every pastry shop that we ate at , but this one pictured here:

http://tinyurl.com/2mnrya

had amazing pastries filled with almond paste. I'm sorry that I don't know the name, but they're located on Rue de Rosiers, not far from L'as du Fallafel. Next time I visit Paris, I'll be sure to stop by for another almond pastry. Also, I highly recommend L'As du Fallafel - their sandwiches are delicious. A few times we walked by, they were closed, but when in doubt, Sunday is your best bet for everything to be open in Le Marais. The neighborhood really came alive on Sunday.

I'm thinking about this apartment for our stay in May (my husband and myself.) The price seems fantastic for the location. Were you happy with the apartment itself? Is that double bed in the alcove as small as it looks in the photo? Was it comfortable?

Your pics are lovely. Thanks for sharing them.

Your photos are lovely!

plafield - The bed is a double and it seemed the same size as any other double. It was very comfortable - I didn't have any problems with my back or anything. I'm used to sharing a queen with my husband and this double wasn't a problem for my Mom and I to share. Perhaps if you like a king bed this double would be too cozy for you. For me, the affordable price was more important than the size of the bed. The orange sofa is a fold-out, but we didn't use it so I can tell you how comfortable it is.

Really lovely photo's bailey - my pick was the one you took of the top of the large ovoid dome of Sacre`-Coeur from the bottom of rue Rustique looking uphill.
The same picture is featured in The EyeWitness Travel Guide and I went especially one afternoon to copy the same photo shot. Well done you, it turned out great!

Nice trip report.

I have a question about the museum pass, should we purchase it on line before our trip or when we arrive in Paris. Also, I wouldn't want more than a 2 day pass, how many places were you able to visit in 2 days. We're not big museum people, we do want to go to the Louvre and d'Orsay museum and Versaille. Just wondering if it's really worth paying $46 for a pass.

Tod - I'm glad that you like that photo, it's one of my favorites.

Suze - We purchased our pass at our first sight which we used it at, which was Sainte Chappelle. Since it wasn't crowded, that worked out well for us. I wouldn't have bought it at the Louvre, Versailles, or somewhere else equally crowded. You could purchase it online or buy it at any sight that's not so crowded, even if you will not be visiting that sight.

We used our 2-day pass at 6 places. Versailles was on another day and we decided to get the Versailles Pass for that rather than get a 4-day pass (the next option up from 2-day pass). For us, the 4-day pass would have been too much - we didn't have enough sights planned to make it worth it and our fourth day was the first Sunday of month when museums are free. The combination we came up with worked out very well us - saving us a good amount of money and, most importantly, allowing us to skip the lines!