Romain was great in all the communication getting set up ahead of time, and met me on arrival to give me a friendly run-through. Although I chose to fumble my own way through discovering Paris, Romain made sure I knew he was always available to help or guide me as needed.

The apartment is just as described and pictured, and is in a great location just a couple of blocks up from the Abesses Metro station. Montmartre gets a lot of tourist traffic, but only because it's a pretty awesome neighborhood. Some friends staying in other parts of town were pretty envious of my digs and location. You're just a couple of blocks from the Sacré-Coeur Basilica and all the surrounding restaurants and shops. I walked the 30 minutes into town where I was working for the week, following Rue des Martyrs, which has a lot of food shops if you take advantage of Romain's kitchen.

Romain's flat is in a very, very quiet building, so you don't get disturbed, but also means you want to keep the activity level down to respect the neighbors.

The mattress was very comfortable. Everyone has differences in how soft or firm they might like their bed, and this one happened to hit the sweet spot for me. But the main thing is it is a real mattress, not a futon or similar solution you sometimes find, and a quality one.

On my first night, the picturesque-as-a-postcard cobblestone road viewed from the window was filled with the sound of a soprano singing opera from one of the windows. That's an almost too good to be true first evening ever in Paris.

All in all, Romain's flat was the perfect place for my stay, I would repeat or recommend it in a heartbeat.