There are numerous questions on the forum concerning renting apartments in Paris, so rather than respond to them individually, I%26#39;ll share our favorable experience. We were in Paris Dec. 27-Jan.3. There happened to be 7 of us, and I rented a 4-br apartment in the 15th in a very nice, typical French neighborhood (lots of shops, pattisseries, bistros, French people.) You don%26#39;t need a tribe to make an apartment rental the best choice -- when my wife and I return without the kids, we%26#39;ll take a 1 bedroom (but I digress). There are many places on the internet to search for an apartment -- just go to Google or craigslist for example. I did lots of research and found the process fun -- and found what appeared to be many fine agents. We finally went with feelslikehomeinparis (www.feelslikehomeinparis.com), which has a small but nice number of apartments from studios to our 4 bedroom. The agent%26#39;s name is Yetunde, an American in Paris who was great to deal with, before and during our trip. The process was easy. I went to the website, reviewed detailed descriptions and pictures of the apartments, emailed Yetunde, made the reservation and paid through PayPal (there are other ways to pay). We paid 1550 euros for the week -- if we had taken a hotel, we would have needed 3 rooms, at a minimum of 600 euros a night for the 3, or 4200 euros. One of the great things about the apartment was it provided a place to hang out and leisurely eat warm croisants bought across the street in the morning and sip wine in the evening (tho naturally we were out and about most of the time). WE also enjoyed the neighborhood -- we were the only tourists, tho as BIG Americans, we did stand out). Yetunde arranged telephones for us (so the tribe could stay in touch when scattered), and they were waiting for us when we arrived. She has an arrangement with a limo service that brought us to and from the airport for 75 euros each trip (for 7 of us it was a deal, door to door). WE had provided a 200 euro security deposit, and within 2 days of arriving home, it was posted back to my PayPal account. Bottom line, I%26#39;d rent an apartment in Paris 9 out of 10 trips there. Maybe 10, which is what I give our experience.
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SSean,
We will be visiting our daughter, a student in Paris, in late February. As my husband and I speak barely any french (we are listening to tapes in the car, but phrases like %26quot;The car is blue%26quot;, %26quot;The truck is large%26quot; and %26quot;The rabbit is quick%26quot; won%26#39;t be all that useful, I%26#39;m afraid!) we were concerned about getting an apartment and had made reservations at a hotel. However, the most recent tripadvisor comments regarding the hotel have been quite poor, so we are rethinking an apartment.
I emailed Yetunde this morning regarding the availability of one of her rentals and I%26#39;m awaiting her response. Your post was quite reassuring. I%26#39;m hoping she will be able to provide transport for us to/from the airport as well, even though we are only 2 people.
Questions? How did you fare using public transport? Any problems we should avoid? Were there any problems getting museum tickets once in Paris? I%26#39;ve read about long lines, and again, have concerns about getting them ahead of time- I have read posts warning about that, as well. . .
Any help you could give us would be much appreciated. As my daughter will be in classes during the week, we will be pretty much on our own and hope to have a wonderful experience-
Merci!
Sheila
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%26lt;%26lt;Were there any problems getting museum tickets once in Paris? I%26#39;ve read about long lines, and again, have concerns about getting them ahead of time- I have read posts warning about that, as well%26gt;%26gt;
You can get your Paris Museum passes at any metro station, and at the museums, as well. There is really no problem with waiting until your arrival.
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Satchel:
As mentioned, renting an apartment was fine from beginning to end. I%26#39;m sure Yetunde will get back to you. She mentioned an apartment that she had put someone in the day we left (she had come by), and she said the couple loved it. Ask her about it. Ask her also about the car to/from the airport -- I wouldn%26#39;t see why you couldn%26#39;t use the company. I can get you the name and contact info if there is a problem. However, for the two of you, you could take an Air France bus into the center of the city (near the Arch de Triumph) for 10 euros each. The advantage of the car is it takes you right where you want to go -- I%26#39;ve struggled with suitcases on the bus, followed by the metro, on other Paris visits, and it was painful.
As to public transportation, it is excellent. We took the metro all over the city. If you are going to be there for a week, get what is called a Carte Orange, which will give you unlimited service on the metro (and I think the bus, too, tho we never took the bus). You%26#39;ll want the card for zones 1 and 2. If you go to Versailles, you%26#39;ll have to get a separate ticket for part of the way. The metro is well mapped, so you shouldn%26#39;t have any trouble getting around. If you%26#39;ve been to London, it is similar, and easier than New York. One caveat about the metro (and Paris in general), there are lots of pick pockets. When I was there last summer, I had two guys try to steal a suitcase (they got on either side of me at a 4-person open telephone kiosk, one dropped money, I went to help him pick it up and the other guys started for the suitcase I had at my feet. It weighed a thousand pounds, so he wouldn%26#39;t have gotten far, but in any event, I saw what he was doing and scared him off. I also had a pick pocket try to take my wallet in the metro. I felt his hand in my pocket, grabbed it, backed out of the turnstyle and tossed him to the ground. He got up and spit in my fact, so I punched him silly. My grand-daughter, whom I was with, thinks I%26#39;m Hercules.)Anyway, watch your wallet and your purse!! Getting back to the Carte Orange, it is good from Monday to Sunday, not 7 days (buy it on Friday and it%26#39;s not worth much). AS I recall, the CO was 15.50 euros (not sure)
As to museums, we were there over Christmas vacation and the lines were very long -- unless you go when they open. We waited perhaps half an hour at the Musee d%26#39;orsey after getting in line about 10:15. I didn%26#39;t try the Louve, but my grand-daughter (she came along again to watch the Friday night fights)went when it opened and got right in. When she left a couple of hours later, she said the line was huge. Now that the vacation break is over, I imagine the lines won%26#39;t be nearly as bad.
Finally, tickets to museums. There seems to be different views. There is a Paris Viste which some recommend, others say it%26#39;s not worth it. We simply bought tickets at the museums. And, as a previous poster mentioned, I guess you can buy them at metro stations, though we did not do so.
Finally, if you have a choice of where to stay, I%26#39;d favor being in or near l%26#39;Marais. That was the nicest part of Paris. We did a %26quot;Walk%26quot; there, with Paris Walks -- which we also recommend. 10 euros for a 2 hour tour. They have quite a few, and we did two.
As to the language, I speak poor French, no once else in our party speak any French, and we had no trouble.
Last word: Besides Versailles, which is of course spectacular, Mt. St. Michael is well worth seeing. I took a train, followed by a bus, to get there the summer before last. I%26#39;d only go if it%26#39;s relatively warm, though.
Sean
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Thank you for your post, we are actually looking at the exact apartment you stayed in for a trip this summer with a group of seven and it is very reassuring that your family enjoyed it. Any negatives to the apartment or area?
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I share your great apartment experience in Paris as we did during our last visit. We stayed in at an apartment in Rue Daniel Casanova. As we are are big family group with children and old people, it was great to stay together wherein we can all get together during meals or just having a nightcap in front of the tv. We have 3 bedrooms so we also have our own privacy. And nothing beats the local experience of buying from the local deli and sharing everything from wine, bread, pastries and other local specialties. You can even wash your own clothes if you need to since it has a washing machine. And you meet local people in the neighborhood. We would like to do it again when we return or in our other trips.
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Blin:
Quite a coincidence you%26#39;re going to take the same apartment. Really no negatives. Small things -- the apartment is on the 4th floor so there%26#39;s stairs to deal with everytime you go in and out. Only an issue if you have someone really old or with bad legs or really lazy or a mother with a 2-year-old. The pictures on the website make the apartment look a little more glamorous than it really is. Still nice though, and very comfortable overall. That%26#39;s not true of the beds -- no wonder Europeans stand up straight, they sleep on boards! The washer/dryer is more like a washer/wait-forever. It%26#39;s small and slow. Emphasisize that these are small things and overall we really enjoyed the apartment and would return if we go again with a group.
As to the neighborhood and the street the apartment is on, we really liked both.The street is busy, with, as mentioned, many small shops selling children%26#39;s clothes, boots, fruits, fish, etc. There are a number of restaurants and bistros on the street and off on side streets. There%26#39;s a Chinese restaurant directly across the street, and a McDonald%26#39;s three blocks away. We passed on those. The kids found a great Moroccan and a great Italian resturant withing 5 blocks. The metro is very convenient, which is good, because the place is not near the sights (except for that 15 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower). I think you will enjoy staying there, and Yetunde is a real pro and helpful.
SS
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Thank you again, your honest opinion has really helped us make an informed decision, it can be so hard to know what and/or who to trust!
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