Paris apts location question
 

Hi, I am wondering if someone may be familar with the area around Cite Universitaire on 14° Arrdt. Or to be more specific, one of the residental house "Deutsch de la Meurthe" at Bd Jourdan. There is a studio apt. offered to me there and I don't know if it is good (maybe someone has lived there before), and how far to the metro or RER.

Another question is if anyone has walked from Sentier Metro station to Centre Pompidou before. How far is it? And if it may be a joyful walk? Thanks!

well, I lived there one summer, so am pretty familiar with it (Cite Universitaire). I'm not familiar with that place. It's on the far erdy end of the campus from where I stayed, I think -- I don't know anyone who stayed there.

Well, it's a quiet and sedate neighborhood, very dull on Sundays as there aren't really many places to eat around there. Transportation is limited to that one RER stop, for the most part. There are some buses, of course, but not that many -- the main one (88) goes west across the 15th arr. The other one that goes north (21), has a stop to the east of the Campus and will be a bit of a hike from that location (it's really in the 13th, I think, around Porte de Gentilly). That foundation (Deutsch etc) is about midway between the RER stop and the Porte d'Orleans metro stop, I'd guess. It's not that far to the RER stop, maybe 300 meters, and maybe 400-500 to the metro stop.

I don't know anything about the facilities of that fondation itself, sorry. The Cite Universitaire has its own website with some maps, if you want. Maybe some info on the houses in terms of facilities. www.ciup.fr

Here is the internal page describing that place a little.
http://www.ciup.fr/deutsch_de_la_meurthe.htm

I am curious how you got to be offered one of the very few apts. in this place, as they are generally reserved for students or at least official govt. interns and there are often wait lists. Or are you studying in Paris during this stay?

Thank you very much for the inf. How did you like to live there? Yes. I am offered a studio as a researcher for a year. But, I am not sure if I should stay in the very center of Paris like the sentier district, or in Cite U. Which RER did you mean? Is the stop at Cite U.? I just checked viamichelin and it indicates 12 mins. on foot, which seems quite far. But from the map, it looks there is a detour or something.

The RER stop is named Cite Universitaire. That's the only one down there.

YOu are lucky to be given an apt. as a researcher, although I don't know how nice it would be. The building is attractive from the outside, but a lot of those buildings are fairly run down on the inside. I don't know on that one, though. It is a dilemma. Yes, I liked living there, it is a pleasant neighborhood. I also liked being able to meet lots of other students from all over the world, so there is that advantage over you living in an apt. on your own.

I don't like the Sentier area, I've said that on other posts, so won't go into it again. I would really like to live in the 14th myself, although Cite Universitaire isn't the most convenient location in that regard, I will admit, and it will take you a while to get to places by comparison to the Sentier area.

However, it seems you are considering some place way out near Belleville metro as an alternative, and that's pretty far out, also, so I can't see that being any better in terms of location.

As for distance, 12 min doesn't seem that long to me, depending how fast you walk. 300 meters is around 3 blocks, I'd guess. The problem is Viamichelin maps this location as being close to the porte d'Orleans metro and that it is 1.6 km to the RER. I didn't think that is where it was, I thought it was to the east of the hospital at the street that continues down from ave Rene Coty and alongside Parc Montsouris. On my map, that is a street named Weill and RE Deutsch de la Meurthe street is across bd Jourdan from it. The map on ciup.fr agrees with that location. So, I think Viamichelin is just wrong as to locating this place by address.

Can't you find some other apt. choices that those out near Belleville and Sentier? Something in the 14th, but a little more around Denfert would be nice, or rue Daguerre. Some people may think the Sentier location is just great, maybe it's just me. I would just rather stay at Cite Universitaire a lot more than around Sentier.

I have walked from Sentier metro to Centre Pompidou in the past and it's probably about a 15-20 minute walk depending on your speed. I don't find the area around the Pompidou very appealing so I would be hard put to characterize it as joyful.

I stayed for 3 weeks in an apartment near the Sentier metro and quite liked the area. Sentier is at the end of rue Montorgueil which is a lovely market street which was visited by Queen Elizabeth when she was visiting Paris a few years ago, so it can't be too bad, can it. My 25 year old daughter (who I'm guessing is closer to your age) really liked that area and would have stayed there if she could have found a long term apartment there for her year in Paris. Since she's interested in art, she liked the convenience of being able to walk to Pompidou and to the Louvre and all the other interesting sites in the vicinity. Don't know if I'd call the walk "joyful", but it's the centre of Paris, how bad could it be? If I were lucky enough to be working at the Centre Pompidou, I would choose that location over the others you've mentioned.

Have fun in Paris!