It seems that those of us who love Paris just can't get enough of it. We spent 10 glorious days at the beginning of May and I can't seem to stop myself from going to the Fodor's sight to read postings about Paris. I will have those memories when I am sitting in my rocking chair at the nursing home! We stayed in an apartment in the 16th and just loved living Parisians. The particular reason that I am writing today is that I noticed that you said you were in a wheelchair most of the time. One of the things that I noted is that Paris doesn't seem to have much accommodation for people who are handicapped. I surely didn't see any elevators or ramps at the metro station and there were so many steps most places. We had to walk up 99 steps to get to the markets near us. I'd love to hear any comments on dealing with Paris if walking is a problem.

SAdamsrec, I think you'll find some interesting information regarding wheelchairs in my trip report, which is currently ready to post. But first, it would help me if I could get an answer to the question I asked above, re. the number of characters that posts are limited to.
As for the metro, we tried it once, without a wheelchair, and we encountered many steps, and long walks. If you're lucky, and choose the proper exit, you may find an escalator, but we never saw an elevator, and never tried the metro again, as my wife couldn't handle the walking.
I will try posting my (very long) trip report by starting another thread, which I'll call "Long Overdue Paris Trip report". It may provide some useful information for you.

Les, I just read through your fantastic and not so "Long Overdue Trip Report" and am adding a link here so nobody misses it!

Thank you for sharing your experiences and for providing so much detail.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35136810

After numerous trips to Paris we discovered the rue de Bretagne area last year on a Sunday. We started out to the Enfant Rouge Street market and were very lucky that it was the Sunday the Mairie3 eme holds a local street brocante. The streets were alive with vendors of all sorts of products for sale. We are hoping that we will be lucky this Novemeber and hit it in time this year. We also found our new favorite restaurant that day, Le Pamphlet.

ttt for opaldog and kagoo.

Thank you Les and Cathy for a great report.
Actually you encouraged me to rent an apartment versus a hotel, I must confess that I like hotels very much when
traveling but may now I shall have no choice for obvious reasons.
Could you confirm to me how much did you paid , including all expenses and when you were there.>?
Do you have the owner e mail>?
We are two persons. I think the only way I shall dare to go to an apartment is with first hand recomendations.
Not long ago we venture to rent in Buenos Aires and I could not wait to get out of there. There are many impoderables in an apartment that can make life miserable and that particular one had several. So I am a little coward . But reading your lovely report has given me lots of courage. Thank you a lot.

Hi, Graziella.
If you look at the owner's site (http://www.vrbo.com/117698), you can find the current prices for the apartment. I don't have the owner's email address at hand, but you'll be able to contact him through the site.
As for the cost of the trip, including the apartment cost and airfare for two, from Denver, it came to approximately $9000. This seems reasonable, considering the declining value of the dollar while we were there. Your cost would depend upon the current cost of the apartment and, of course, air fare increases, and also would be seasonally dependent. We saved a lot by eating in the apartment (a major advantage of an apartment versus a hotel), and by not going to the very high-end restaurants when we ate out, and by not shopping (except for groceries).

Thank you Les. I think you did wonderfully spendig
that money for a full month.
apartment is a tentation, I am old fashioned and always prefered hotels, for me is part of the feeling of being on a holiday but your report might have changed it all.
I guess it is a lovely feeling to love the neighborhood you are in, long ago some friends lent us their apartment in RUe Reamur , near you, and I must agree that it was a lovely experience. Thank you again.

Graziella,
Keep in mind that our intent on this trip was NOT to feel like we were on a holiday. We wanted Paris to feel like home. It came pretty close, too!

Graziella we just came back and stayed nine days in an apt in Monmartre. which was fabulous! the company is Haven in Paris. There were three of us but two would be perfect.. They also have several properties.. Cant say enough about the ease of setting everything up and their help with everything.. This apt was quite a climb.. but worth it to work off the croissants from just up the street. Great area!! A friend had also stayed in this apt last year... good luck..

Les, how do you adjust back to normal life after a month in Paris?

MademoiselleFifi,
Well, considering that we left for Paris within a week of my retirement, then out to the west coast for our son's wedding a couple of weeks after we returned, I'm not quite sure what "normal life" is yet.
We have one of those digital photo frames that we loaded up with some of our Paris photos (I took over 1000 photos), and we leave it on the table in "slide show" mode, so that we can re-live the trip. Neither of us is in any hurry to return to "normal life" yet.

Les, we're in the planning stages of a possible trip to Paris next spring for my daughter, my granddaughter (who will be 6 at the time and for whom this will be a first trip to Paris), and me. Do you think the apartment (and the area in general) you stayed in would be an approriate choice for this 3 generation trio?

We've always stayed in hotels in the 6th but wanted to do an apartment this time. We are not at all familiar with rue Bretagne nor have we spent much time in the Marais, but except for having to take a metro or bus to the main sights, it sounds like a good area for just "hanging out", which we will probably be doing lots of b/c of granddaughter.

I'd appreciate any comments or advice. Thank you!

I neglected to mention that I've enjoyed reading about your report--what a wonderful trip!

Chere grandmere,

I think the apartment would be a fine choice for the 3 of you. The queen size bed in the bedroom, and very large daybed/sofa in the living room would accommodate you quite well. The washer/dryer would also be convenient. The 5th floor apartment has small fenced terrace, and I'd be concerned about leaving your granddaughter unattended on it. There's a lovely little park across the street, with a small playground, a small fenced-off pond, and lovely plantings. It seemed very safe--all families or children with nannies. Place de Vosges is probably a 15 minute walk, and it has a larger area for your granddaughter to run around in.
The apartment building is entered through a porte-cochere into a small courtyard, so there is little or no traffic noise. During the day you simply buzz yourself into the building, and after 7:00p.m. you have a code to punch in for entry, adding security.
The apartment is furnished nicely but not with things that I would worry about with a child--furniture is sturdy and fairly well-used, and knick-knacks are kept to a minimum. You are about 3 blocks from 2 metro stations, and quite near a bus stop. The Monoprix is 2 short blocks away, and rue de Bretagne is filled with small food shops.
I'm trying to think up some negatives to include, but offhand I can't. The only one might be the small "closet" where the toilet is located, but apparently this is the norm for many Paris apartments (at least, those we looked at online).

Thanks, Les, for the details; it was helpful!
I was surprised to hear that it's a 15 min. walk to Pl de Vosges; therefore, would walking to, say, Notre Dame be a "really" long hike?
Guess I'm just wondering if we'd be too far away from most places we'd want to visit.

grandmere,
I guess it's all relative. Remember, my 15 minute walk to Place de Vosges was while pushing a wheelchair; I would guess that walking with a 6 year old child would be at about the same pace. Notre Dame was only about a 20 minute walk from the apartment, and as I pointed out in my trip report, the walk itself, rather than the actual destination, was what we found most interesting. If you consider a walk of more than 15 minutes a "really long hike", then perhaps you should choose an apartment nearer to those things that interest you most, but since many of the "main" attractions in Paris are spread out across the city, how would you choose?
Ultimately, you can ride the metro to within a short walk of most of the main attractions, but the you'd miss everything inbetween. It's a balancing act, and only you can make that decision.

Forgive me for subjecting you to my "thinking out loud" on the subject of distance; you are right that only I can make those decisions. I think my main issue is that the apt. is in a very different location from my usual pt. of reference in Paris, and of course St. Germain isn't near "everything" either.

Thanks for your patience and helpful info!

G-mere