The apartment really is great. The location is just perfect. It’s near restaurants, boulangéries, shops, and even a couple of tourist attractions are within walking distance, but it’s also quiet, without noise from the street or, thankfully, the neighbours. It’s nice that it doesn’t look like IKEA catalog, the furniture is obviously used, maybe even a bit old-fashioned (in a good way). There’s enough space for a couple, and the kitchen is more than functional. There’s books, and art, and all kinds of knickknacks all over the place (although someone else’s clothes in the closet did seem a bit strange). In other words, it’s cozy and feels like real people’s home, which to us is a huge advantage.
We didn’t get to meet Frédéric in person, we were welcomed by a lady who didn’t speak English and so she didn’t give us a lot of instructions or advice. Then again, we had Frédéric’s phone number and probably could have called him had we had any questions (but we didn’t).
The only thing that wasn’t great about the apartment was, well, the dust. The amount of it made us sneeze. The apartment seemed like it was cleaned by a lazy rebellious teenager who was forced by Mom to clean but was making a point of showing how much he hated doing it. The shelves of the kitchen cabinets were sticky, the floor was not vacuumed under the bed or chairs, there was the smell of cigarettes and the ash in the trash (which was not emptied). We’re not the kind of people to make a fuss about it, so we just dusted and vacuumed and went on with our vacation, but it’s probably a good idea for Frédéric to look for some more enthusiastic cleaners.
But all in all, we had a great time, thanks, Frédéric!