This review may seem like I just gave our host top scores across the board in order to finish it fast. This is far from the truth. Martine deserves the highest of all the scores. The apartment was even better than the description. Martine and her husband are phenomenal hosts. They were eager to help us non-french speaking guests in any way that they could (i.e.- they set up our car from, and to, the airport for us, as well as offered to set up dinner reservations for us and gave us loads of referrals for placed to eat and visit.) She reached out to us far in advance of our trip and was more than willing to answer any questions we had.
The apartment is in a prime location. There's a local bakery on the corner of the block, a supermarket one street over, a butcher next door to the bakery, restaurants galore, and for you diehard coffee fiends, there's even a Starbucks around the corner in case you need a little taste of familiarity. You may think that having all these amenities so close means that the area is noisy and really busy, but you would be wrong. The street in front of the apartment is really quiet. We really enjoyed returning to the apartment in the afternoons to rest after walking all over Paris. We would open the windows on both sides of the apartment to hear birds singing, let the cool breeze fill the space with fresh air, and the sunshine flood the entire room with natural light.
This doesn't even take into account that the Eiffel Tower is literally a 5 minute stroll away. By the way, having a 1000ft tall monument right next to your apartment comes in super handy when you're walking all over Paris and want to start heading back home on foot. The nearness of the Paris Metro station is so convenient. We purchased the 5 day Metro pass and were able to take the subway everywhere in Paris. Part of the fun of the trip was taking the metro across town, visiting a museum/location, and then finding the Eiffel Tower on the horizon and walking back, only to stop into a cafe or brasserie for a treat, or for coffee in the park to sit and "people watch".
All this to say, our time in Paris was made perfect thanks to Martine and Fabrice's friendliness, hospitality, and apartment. It truly made for a magical and memorable experience that we will treasure. We can't wait to return and you can bet your bottom dollar, we'll be staying here.
Geoff and Lindsay