Paris Apartment in the 5th
 

We will be visiting Paris in late March and have been "looking" at this apartment in the 5th Arr.

http://www.homelidays.com/EN-Holiday...M=c29waGllam9l

I think Janis said she stayed here once. Has anyone stayed here and could you please tell me about the apartment?

Thank you! Laurie

Yes - I stayed in that flat this last March.

As you can telll from the rates it is not posh - but it is certainly nice (and I've stayed in much worse for much more $ ). The location is fantastic - everything from the Marais to Notre Dame to the Pantheon to all of the 6th/St Germain to the Louvre/Musee d'Orsay and more is w/i a reasonable walk. several days I didn't use the metro at all.

It is three flights up if climbing is a problem.

The photos on the website don't actually do it justice since the Bathroom has been re-done w/ a heated towel rail, and there is a TV in the living room. And the kitchen is practically huge by paris standards. The kitchen photo only shows one side - there is a full sized fridge and cabinets on the opposite wall, plus a hutch. The curtain you see in the dining room conceals a large closet w/ hanging space and shelves. It faces an interior courtyard so is very quiet - except when they are taking out the trash receptacles. Not fancy - but quite large as Parisian flats go - especially in the price range. Definitely room to turn around. Some old features like original beams and a "decorative" fireplace. The neighborhood is "touristy" to say the least - but facing the courtyard you can shut all that out.

Francoise - the owner speaks perfect English and is very nice. Some basics like sugar/salt/pepper, tea, coffee, olive oil, -- and Nutella -- were all in the kitchen

If one wants posh, or a romantic view of Notre Dame from a balcony - this isn't the place. But for a value apartment literally a 1 - 2 minute walk (after getting down those stairs :) ) to Notre Dame, the Metro and RER - it is a good choice.

If there are just two of you and you won't need the sofa bed it will feel even larger since there wouldn't be a bed sticking out in the living room.

Thanks for the information, Janis. I talked with Francoise on the phone this morning and she said the apartment is available for 490 Euro per week.

I am traveling with a friend and we would like to keep expenses down, so I think this apartment will work out great for us.

Did you have any favorite restaurants or shops in the area?

Thanks so much for your review! Laurie

Shopping not so much - did most of my shopping in the 1st and at museums.

But my favorite meal was at Le Reminet just about a 5 minute walk down river from teh flat. My trip report ( http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34786168 ) describes it on March 27.

And of course the patisserie/creperie on the corner - literally less than a minute from the flat - w/ yummy pannini, pastries and Nutella (a pattern here) crepes.

If you plug in 14 rue Xavier Privas on this site www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi you can see the front door of the bldg (the green door) and pan around to see the street and neighboring restaurants (I didn't eat in any of the many Greek places/tavernas along the street and in the neighboring ones)

Thanks for the link to your trip report, Janis. It sounds like you had a great trip, except for the travel home.

We plan to be in Paris around the same time period that you were there. Late March of 2007.

I guess we should expect some rain and cool weather during this time frame.

I hope the apartment is heated?!

I am happy to know about the heated towel racks as we will be here for 1 week and will probably need to dry some laundry.

Thanks again for your tips! Laurie

Yes - very good heat - individually controlled heaters in the bedroom and the living room. So you can have it as toasty or not as you want. The bldg has thick walls so good insulation. I slept in the living room and even w/ the cool weather, barely used the heat at all. CTC had the bedroom and heated it to the max. The towel rail really heats the bathroom if you leave it on during the day.

We stayed in another MUCH smaller apartment at 14 rue Xavier Privas. We loved the location, which is within walking distance of so many attractions. We shopped for the few grocery items we bought at Franprix on rue Lagrange.

FYI, 3d floor French is 4th floor American.

I'm still regretting not eating at Le Reminet, which is quite close to the apt. On Monday and Thursday nights they have 19 euro three course meals.

We enjoyed 2 dinners at Cafe Med at 76 rue St. Louis en L'ile, where three course dinners were 12.5 euros, a great bargain for wonderfully prepared food. We found a great, cheap crepe stand next door to McDonald's at the corner of r. St. Germain and r. de la Huchette, very near the Cluny Museum, which we enjoyed.

We depended on our Streetwise Paris map for all the walking we did. Before we left I went to mappy.com to find routes and mileage from the apartment to various sites and restaurants, most of which were much closer than I had thought.

&quot;<i>3d floor French is 4th floor American</i>&quot; - good point - when I said three flights up I meant <u>three flights of stairs</u> up to the 3rd floor/4th floor American

Thank you very much for the restaurant recomendations! We will definately try La Reminet and the patisserie on the corner sounds like a great place.

I am also glad to know that the apartment is well heated.

Thanks for letting me know about the grocery shop that is nearby. I was wondering about that.

As for the stairs, no problem, we will need to work off the extra pounds anyway.

Thanks again! laurie

JanisJ - this is another page I have had to add to my favourites. My favourites file is just getting larger and filled with all your information.:)

We won't be in Paris until next year but I am pretty keen on that apartment you stayed in. (Must confess though that all those steps don't turn me on) but the price sure does.

As we will be travelling November 07 I am going to check out Wotif.com November this year just to see what might be up for grabs as a last minute purchase - as they now have a 28 day lead in.

I've appreciated your input and found it very useful. Many Thanks
Stormer