We were absolutely delighted with Claudia's apartment!

The apartment is much cuter than the the photos would suggest and, as others have mentioned, it just can't be beat for its location. Great bakeries, cheese shops, fish shops and butchers literally downstairs. The two grocery stores - one on either side of the apartment, a few blocks away - are good for staples, but you really want to go to a Monoprix for better variety. The metro is barely two blocks away. We skipped the touristy restaurants up the road, bought bread and cheese every morning, cooked Christmas dinner, bouillabaisse and spaghetti.

We didn't think things through and lost a couple of days to Christmas and New Years vacations, but the touristy Montmartre area and Muslim restaurants near the mosque were open when everything else was closed. The fish store and the bakery were almost always open at least for a few hours in the morning. The produce store down the hill was much friendlier than the one across the street.

I think Claudia waited longer than she expected for us to arrive from the airport, but was very gracious about it. After several trips (several members of our party going to and fro), we discovered it consistently takes an hour and a half to get to her place by public transport from Charles de Gaulle, plus whatever time you need to get your baggage and go through customs.

Claudia was very generous and allowed us to use her kitchen supplies such as salt and sugar, and we replaced a few things like coffee and aluminum foil (needed for baking that Christmas turkey!)

The bathrooms and kitchen are small by North American standards, but scrupulously clean and new. The apartment comfortably accommodated the six of us (three adult couples) and the two flights of stairs were not steep. We only hope we didn't play the movies too loud - not sure how much sound travels downwards in these renovated older apartments! We had a fabulous trip and while we only saw Claudia for a few minutes when we arrived, all communication with her was fast, friendly and efficient. This was a lovely apartment indeed with a charming host, and we have only good things to say about it. Thanks, Claudia!