I stayed in an apartment on Rue de la Harpe back in 2004. The apartment was nice but, we had a horrible time with the rental agency and all sorts of apartment issues.

I wouldn't rent thru that agency again (Time and Place Homes) and I also wou ldn't stay on Rue de la Harpe again even if the apartment was free! I hated that street! As St Cirq said, live and learn....

Thanks for all of the reponses! I did do a street view and noticed that there was ALOT of activity around. Although we have never been to Paris before, we were a bit skeptical about staying somewhere so busy (but I do like that its close to the river, and seems very central). Rue Gay Lussac seems to be pretty central too, but I suppose what I am now wondering is will we have to walk very far to be in the "swing of things", but not necessarily live IN it.

Paris is a small city with an excellent transportation system. Even if you're relatively far from something, you can be there in 20 minutes or so. It simply isn't an issue.