We stayed for almost two weeks at Chantal’s flat with an ambitious calendar planned and found it to be a great place to be based. The metro station is very close and easy to navigate. Rue Cler is a convenient hub for dining and grocery shopping (the freshest produce and excellent premade meals included), but there are plenty of other small shops dedicated to one thing or another on almost all of the other local streets.
This apartment is exactly what we were hoping for! Old world Hausmannian building with original ornate moldings, huge working windows with wavy glass, soft carved marble fireplaces, and creaky old growth oak floors laid in patterns, this apartment has kept so much of its original beauty. It is decorated in a mix of practical IKEA finds plus rustic antiques and hand crafted items that kept it unique and charming. The living room could not have been better laid out for conversation, relaxing, and views with two facing sofas, windows on two sides, and the privacy of being on the 3rd floor. (Speaking of the 3rd floor, the building has an excellent modern elevator for accessing it). The adjacent dining room and foyer make this apartment huge! Honestly, we loved this space so much that one day we decided to do nothing at all but stay at the apartment with an ample supply of locally procured wine, cheese, and baguette!
At first, I was worried that the beds were too firm as this can lead to nighttime hip pain for my mother and I, but surprisingly, we were all really comfortable and I even had to take a photo of the mattress label before I left. I came home and decided I liked hers better! Another original concern was that the library bedroom would not be private enough, but we discovered that it completely closes off from the other rooms. Also, the panes in the doors are mirrors, not glass, so my daughter had complete privacy and darkness. This truly acts like a rare fourth bedroom. We also loved having two bathrooms and two water closets.
We appreciated that Chantal has a “no-shoes indoors'' policy, because that also means that this apartment was very clean! The hand woven rugs were bright and fresh with no trace of the gunk that gets tracked in on street shoes in other places. (Paris streets ARE dirty; think about all those dogs).
The local ambience is very much like other Parisian streets with tall beautiful buildings, narrow streets with even narrower sidewalks, the constant hubbub of cars, construction work, chatting pedestrians, and school children playing. It is not truly quiet outside until about 1 in the morning- perfectly fine for us, because we didn’t intend to go to the countryside and were prepared with earplugs when we wanted to sleep. The inhabitants of the building itself are quiet and friendly and we were happy to respect them by being the same.
We met Chantal only at the end of our stay to pass off the keys. It was an all too short conversation, but I can say with certainty that her space is the perfect reflection of her- elegant, yet unpretentious. We can’t recommend it highly enough!