Gaspar was really nice. He did a great job of making me feel welcome, carried my gigantic suitcase up the stairs, told me about the neighborhood, etc. He's a really cool guy, very kind, and I cannot say enough nice things about him as a host.

He lives in the 11th, which I would say is similar in vibe to the Montrose stop on the L in Brooklyn or Highland Park in LA: Hip, well on its way toward gentrifying, but still a little rough around the edges, where real people live and work (exactly the kind of place I was looking for).

There are tons of restaurants and cafés close by, multiple different metro lines a short walk away (making for an easy commute to tourist sites), and it's easy to stroll into Le Marais or over to Canal St. Martin. I really enjoyed staying a bit outside the more touristy zones, and getting a feel for a more authentic Paris.

The apartment is where Gaspar actually lives when he's not hosting, so it's not like staying in a full time AirBnB place. It's more like staying in a friend's apartments.

While I really enjoyed my stay, there are a few things I think are important for visitors to know before booking:
1) The building is a 5th floor walk up, which if you have problems with stairs, might be a problem for you. To be clear, this seems to be typical of many apartments in Paris (so far, I've been in 5 apartments in Paris, and 4 of them were walk ups). So, if you have issues with stairs, you should confirm there is an elevator before booking anywhere.

2) There are definitely some religious tensions in the neighborhood right now. There was one day, when coming back to the apartment, someone had tagged a Star of David and an "SS" on the front door of the apartment building, and when I first arrived, there were French Military standing guard with machine guns across the street (a remnant from Charlie Hebdo).

To be clear, as a white anglo-saxon looking girl, I had no problems, even when walking around alone at night. I was alone in the apartment for two weeks, and I always felt totally safe.

But, you can definitely feel the tension around other religious and ethnic groups, and if I were obviously Jewish or obviously Muslim, I don't know if I would have felt differently.

3) The mattresses in the apartment are futon-style mattresses, so they are a little on the hard side. The good thing about this is, you won't spend your vacation laying in bed. But, if you are used to sleeping on a Westin Heavenly Bed, it might be a bit of a difficult transition. Again, I think this is typical of a lot of places in the area.

Anyway, overall, I had a really nice stay, and I hope to see Gaspar again in the future.