I am looking to rent a apartment with 3 other middle aged women. I have found one at Rue de Douai. Is this a safe area? Does anyone know anything about how central the area is? If this is not a good area, any help would be great.
Thanks!

Hi. In central Paris, because of the metro system, you are never very far from transport around the city. I see 2 metro stops near that street. That being said, to get to someplace like Notre Dame for example, it would be a ferw stops to get there. As for the neighbourhood, be aware that there are an area with sex shops not too far from your appartment. Then again, the Moulin Rouge, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, 'Amelie' sites are also nearby. I have walked around at night with no incidents, I will leave it to others to offer their experiences. Personally, I would prefer to be in the 4th/5th/6th/7th arrondissements, strictly for being able to walk most places. That being said, appartments would be more economical in your area, and you would get more of a local feel, since there might be less tourists around (apart from the above sights). Hope this helps,
Mike

Here is the solution: Go to www.timeand place.com.My In -Laws,wife& I went to paris last summer-stayed in one of their properties(Champs Elysee/Monceau apt.)Beautiful interior,awesome view,completely safe.The picture of the Eiffel tower they show on the upper left side of their paris page is the view from the huge terrace at the apt.(on home page hit locations then paris)Looks like they've added new properties as well.

I suppose it's relatively safe, but a lot of that depends on your habits and what you intend to do, and where you intend to go in the neighborhood. I stayed in a place a bit south of there around Saint Georges metro and liked that area okay and it was safe, but I didn't care for the area closer to Blanche metro that much--which is where that apartment is.

I wouldn't rent it, let's put it that way. Not just because of safety, but convenience and other things, neighborhood ambience, etc. Perhaps I'm wrong, but one thing I liked about the area farther south is there are several great shopping streets and street markets (rue des Martyrs, mainly, some others a big farther). I also liked some restaurants and cafes around square de la Trinite. However, Douai wouldn't be that convenient to either of those, at least not a short walk.

It's about medium in centrality. I think most folks who don't know Paris, as you, would prefer elsewhere.

This is a personal preference/comfort situation, and clearly I am prejudiced: We own an apartment on this street and I enjoy the liveliness of the neighborhood and feel very safe there. The part of Douai we are on is situated between two metro stops, Clichy and Blanche, and you are also very close to rue Lepic, which is a market street (the cafe from the movie Amelie is on rue Lepic). I like the area just south of there, too, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the St. George area as Christina has mentioned. Then again, I like the area just north of there in the 18th, so I'm probably not very picky!

I think some people would prefer to be closer to the old center of the city for first-time visits, but then again, most first-time visitors we've had with us ended up trecking to all points around the city their first time in an attempt to see everything! ;-) Impossible, of course!

Have you looked up the address on www.pagesjaunes.fr? You can see the building's exterior and sort of navigate around the street itself. Depending on what part of Douai the apartment is located, you can find everything from a bunch of guitar/musical instrument stores to boulangeries to a tattoo parlor to Italian restaurants. So, it's definitely varied!

Thanks,
I think I will keep looking. I don't think my travel partners would like that area. We stayed in a hotel in the opera district a few years ago and it was ok. If any of you know of or have stayed in a apartment thats safe and near the subway please help me out.
Thanks to all so far.

Have you been looking at the vrbo.com and theparisperfect.com sites?? Another one you could look at would be paris-sleeps.com....there are so many websites to look at....holiday-rentals.com...gite.com.............

mishateful, I'm posting here in the hopes you return to this thread. Others are seeking your help with information about renting in Rome. You posted last year you were using a company, but we never heard back how it was.
Click on your name and it will bring up your thread from last year which has been brought for more information.

Look at the 6th and the 7th arrondisements, nice residential areas with neighborhood markets, restaurants, etc..
Check out www.justfranceinparis.com. They are very reputable and a joy to rent an apartment from...

www.private-paris.com may have somethign that will interest you. I rented from Henri last summer and was very pleased with the apt. Beautiful historic buildings in nice areas.

I would recommend the 7th near St. Germaine des pres- close to food markets, museums, cafes, galleries, the river. I rented a studio apartment a few years ago with my daughter and we loved the area. We found renting an apartment not as great a deal as we expected- it was still expensvie, and we had a very tiny place, chock full of appliances which we found difficult to figure out. We missed fresh towels and maid service every day. We didn't do much cooking anyway. If I were you, I would find a triple room in a moderate priced hotel in a great location, unless you are staying for a month or more.
Have fun
Roz

Thanks for the help with the apt search.
I think I have found one. vrbo 53919.
tell me what you think. It looks great
to me.

mishateful, the concerns I would have include not knowing what floor it is on and if there is an elevator -- no airconditioning (depending on when you're going), and those horrible open bathtubs with no shower curtains and the place you can attach the shower to is on the back wall aimed out into the bathroom!

Thanks Patrick,
It is on the 2nd floor and we will be there March 16-24. I did notice the showers, but the only other tine I stayed in Paris (in a Hotel) it was the same way. Thought that was normal.

THAT'S IT!!! this is the wonderful apartment I keep talking about. lacigaleparis.com
you will just love it - and I can tell you everything about it if you want to email me.

[email protected]

ttt

OK, mishateful, but you do realize that's the third floor to us Americans?
Just so you know.

No, that apartment is on the second floor to us Americans. And it has an elevator.

and glorious bathrooms.....

I'm sorry, but any tub that has a hand held shower, no shower curtain or doors, and the only place to hang the shower nozzle is on the back wall facing out of the tub . . .is NOT a glorious bathroom in my book! One of my first requirements is to be able to take a carefree shower behind something that keeps the water from going all over the bathroom -- but maybe that's me. I know some people prefer baths to showers and it would be fine if that's the case.

Mishateful, sounds like you've done the homework then -- glad that you had already translated "second floor" to Americanese and you have an elevator.