My daughter and I stayed at Francois's little house for 3 nights just before Christmas. We made the mistake of taking the metro to Abbesses, I suggest its better to get off at Blanche and walk up Rue Lepic. There were so many steps at Abbesses to get to the top, I thought I was going to die! The little house lives inside an apartment block. You enter the main door then walk down some stairs to an open courtyard, and voila! there it is! So cute. Francois was kind enough to let us leave our bags in the house when we arrived in the morning (it was still being cleaned) and so we went to explore the local area. Rue Lepic has a great supermarket (for all the things you need like red wine and brie), delicious Asian takeaway (rice paper rolls were fresh and delicious). There's a great cafe in Rue de Abbesses (sorry I cant remember the name) for the best mussels in blue cheese sauce I have ever had. There were so many, my daughter counted 135 in her pot!! We found lots of vintage shops nearby and did lots of walking. It was so great to return to the little house after a long day. It was very warm and cosy and it has the best shower. Hot with perfect pressure! We came to Paris by train and so it was easy to get back to Gare du Nord for our return to Germany.