Maria was very organized about handing her lovely apartment over to us, and welcomed us warmly on our arrival (even though we had a bit of trouble connecting by phone and showed up at the door of the building without calling - problems with phone were all mine related to use of country code for dialing a call from a Canadian cell phone). She oriented us to the kitchen as I had told her I like to cook, which proved to be wonderful in addition to eating out. The apartment is very bright even on rainy days, and has excellent connections to transportation (Faidherbe-Chalingy Metro is just a couple blocks away, Gare de Lyon is a short cab ride, Gare du Nord and Est are easily reached by the #46 bus). One morning we left the flat at 8:35am and were in the lineup for the Louvre at 9:00am, so the location is not at all peripheral for the main central destinations. There are also VeloLib bikes right outside the door, which was an unexpected treat. They connect with a city-wide system of bicycle rentals. We purchased food from shops, bakeries and the nearby Marche Aligre and tried many new and different items. Hemingway himself would have been quite happy to write and eat at Le Cafe Pure across the street. Altogether this is a very good choice for anyone who is a tourist but doesn't want to feel like one.