We were made very welcome by Charles, Alizee's partner. He was really friendly, helpful and explained everything clearly. He even took me on a brief tour of the neighbourhood, as well. The apartment was a lovely as the photos indicated and it was spotlessly clean. It was very well furnished and very much to our taste.
The neighbourhood has a real buzz to it. It is not a tourist area of Paris, but had a really interesting cosmopolitan and 'hipster' (Charles' word!) feel to it. I really liked it and particularly Belleville Park at the top of the road. There were lots of local restaurants and bars to suit any taste. It is about five minutes walk to the metro and it is 8 stops to the traditional tourist sites. However, it is also about 10 minutes walk to the Chinese quarter in Belleville with loads of restaurants. There is a market up the hill towards Gambetta which we shopped at - great selection of food and everyone seemed really pleased to practise their English on us - couldn't have been friendlier.