Arriving at the ground floor apartment after a long journey, we swung open the door and were delighted by what we found. This was the perfect place to spend a week in Paris.

The neighborhood was perfectly Parisian, without being too touristy. We were only a short walk to the Metro, Post Office, grocery stores (Carrefour among others), pharmacy and many restaurants. The patisserie two doors up sold delicious viennoiseries for breakfast and 2 blocks away was a fantastic patisserie - Carl Maletti (try the Lily of the Valley).

The maisonette was sparkling clean and smelled fresh (which is not always the case with French plumbing). As well as comfortable eating, sitting and sleeping furniture, it was equipped with wi-fi, phone, a washing maching, an airconditioner and a heated towel rail, all of which we used in our mid-July stay. The windows and door opened out onto a courtyard decorated with geraniums, and the whole shared area was kept spotless by the concierge. Although we were asked not to use the couryard, it provided a very Parisian feel each time we looked out the window.

There was nothing we needed in the way of kitchen/bathroom items that was not in the apartment. The tiny kitchen area was more than adequate for our eating and cooking needs for our stay. The supermakets in the area sold lots of fresh and prepared food, so it was easy to be self-catering on the nights when we were too tired to go out to eat.

We were lucky enough to meet Dominique and her husband who were passing through Paris. They were able to tell us a lot about the history of the area which helped make the stay more meaningful for us.

As expected, our stay in Paris was no where near long enough. We will be returning soon and part of our anticipation will be knowing we now have the perfect place to stay.