I know exactly where the second apartment is (from the description, that is) and I think it's a great location. It's easy enough to avoid the area with the sex shops, etc., which doesn't really extend beyond the boulevard de Clichy anyway.
In fact, my mother and my aged, shy and easily shockable aunt stayed in a hotel not far from the location of the apartment you mention, and they had a lovely time.

from looks alone it looks really nice and i like the location (note: i've never been to paris)

For the life of me, I can't figure out how to look at buildings using www.pagesjaunes.fr. I have been playing around with it for the past few days, but am having difficulties (probably because I don't speak French). Could someone enlighten me with step-by-step instruction? That would be great.

And Christina, I definitely am trying to take the Web site description with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, it's hard to find reviews on apartments (at least this one), so I'm trying to do my homework.

Here is a link to guest comments on the Web site. I realized they don't post the bad ones, but the frequency of the good ones gives me hope. The most recent ones are at the end. What do you think? http://www.perfectlyparis.com/Roofto...20Comments.pdf

And we would be fine with NYC "villagy." Even the rendezvous link you provided describes the area as a village.

There may be other ways of doing this, but here's what I'd do:

On the Page Jaunes site (www.pagesjaunes.fr), first click on "formulaire détaillé", then in the box marked "Où" on the right, type in 89 rue des Martyrs, and in the box underneath marked "Localité" type in Paris 18, and then click "Trouver".

You'll then get a page of results. Under the first result, a restaurant called "la Pignatta" there is a link called "Photo". Click on that, and you'll see a photo of the address. If you click on "Vue 1" or "Vue 2", you'll see different views of the façade. If you click "Angle" you'll see a corner view of the building. If you click on the thumbnails underneath, you can see pictures of adjacent buildings and thus build up a picture of the street overall.

laurallais

try this..
http://photos.mappy.com/x/voila3/home_paris.htm

Put in the address # in rue slot
Put in Name of street

click trouver and if all works out you should have what you want...

we are also staying in the area, further south in the 9th. i had researched the area pretty well and think it will be a good fit for us. allows us to walk to areas we haven't seen before and easy metro to more touristic areas. i think mappy.com is easier to use than pages jaune for those of us with limited french. mappy page opens to the heading map on left hand side. put in address, don't forget to change uk to france. it will pull up a map with photo in upper right hand corner. click and then you can travel around the area with the location arrow and photos of same will follow. really very easy and interesting. watch out, you could spend hours roaming paris!!!

Well, you're not going to believe it. After all that work looking at places and debating whether to stay up in Montmartre (and all the help from you), I've decided it would be best to stay more central.

My husband has never been to Paris, so I'm sure we'll be in central Paris most of the time. It makes more sense to be able to pop "home" for a bit if we need a break.

Sooo... I am now evaluating a whole NEW set of apartments. I would like to find someplace that is convenient for walking and it must have a bakery close-by for breakfast. I'd love a "neighborhood" feel (not TOO crowded with tourists) and trees on the street. Other pluses (but not necessary) are an elevator, view and/or computer).

Here is my list, broken up by districts:
In the 1st:
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_125.htm

In the 2nd:
http://www.vrbo.com/139753

In the 7th:
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_155.htm

In the 7th/6th:
http://www.vrbo.com/129217

In the 8th:
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_109.htm

Thanks so much as always, and I look forward to providing a trip report when I'm back, so everyone will know how the final choice turns out!

Laura

OK, I'll give it another try! I think you're doing the right thing by moving more central.

No. 1 in the 1st--others here have either stayed there or booked it. It looks quite nice, is extremely central, but probably doesn't have much of a neighborhood flavor.

No. 2--good looking apartment but less central and on the 5th (French 6th?) floor with no elevator.

No. 3--nice area but not really central.

No. 4--My favorite, definitely. Great area, easy to walk to the Seine, Orsay, Louvre, almost everywhere.

No. 5--With only four nights, the area wouldn't be on my list of convenient locations.

There you go . . . I addressed mainly the location because the apartments all look nice. I think you'll find that in Paris you are never more than a half a block from a patisserie, so that's no problem.

CW

but that link said Johnny Depp had an apt. in the immediate area.. I thought for sure you'd take it. He's probably never there, anyway, I thought he and Vanessa Paradis' main residence was in an upscale suburb of Paris, I forget the name.

You can get what you want in lots of areas of Paris, actually (bakeries, cafes, etc, nearby). I think that apt. looked okay for the area, but even though I know Paris pretty well and have been there a lot, I'm not sure I would want to stay in an apt. at place des Abbesses due to the inconvenience. YOu'd have to be thinking you weren't going to be doing much in Paris, just hanging out in the neighborhood some. I have a friend who stayed near Caulaincourt metro and he said he just mainly hung around Montmartre that week he was there, but he also has been there a lot.

You really couldn't go back during the daytime, if you wanted, you are right on that. And I find that the metro/bus/etc. always ends up taking you a lot longer than it's supposed to in theory, what with the transfers and waiting. I don't go to a lot of the tourist sites I've seen a lot that much any more, but I do tend to go to some concerts and favorite places I know, and it wouldn't be that convenient from Abbesses. Also, I do like to be more central not just for tourist sites, but central for other things I want to do, even if taking the train for day trips, or walking around unvisited parts of other arrondisements I haven't seen yet.

anyway, that is a good website you found on the Montmartre apts., I don't think I've seen that one much

Christina, did you see the lastest options I'm considering? They're listed about two postings above your last one. They are much more central. Let me know which one you like best if you get a chance.

Thanks!

Just to let all of you very helpful people know, I'm going to repost my newer apartment question. I think it's kind of buried here. Thanks for getting me this far!

Of the latest lot, i would go for #4 or #5, forgo the others.