Serge’s apartment was absolutely perfect! Here are the best things...
1. Location: set on the 8th floor of a secure building on a quiet street, you can look out the window to the left and see the top half of the Eiffel Tower. We enjoyed having all the windows open and sitting and watching the lit tower sparkle at the top of every hour. There are multiple metro stations within 10 mins walk, Franprix and Auchan groceries < 10 mins, a lovely bakery 5 mins, even a small ‘park’ across the street, etc. There were a couple of bums on the street as with most big cities, but they never approached anyone and we felt perfectly safe, even walking back at 11 pm with our 9 & 11 year olds.
2. Beds: we were concerned about the beds but the sofa bed was “the most comfortable sofa bed ever” according to my 11 year old. While I never slept the night on it, laying on it for a while, it felt like a real bed. The bunk beds were great, even for my husband who has back issues!
3. Washer: nice to be able to launder. There is no dryer but lots of hangers and a rolling rack, so we just had to get a bit creative about where to hang dry everything :).
4. Kitchen is stocked: small fridge (no freezer), coffee maker, toaster, microwave (no oven), pots and all utensils.
5. Shower was spacious and the toilet is separate which is nice for bigger groups.
6. Parking: reserved parking under the apartment using a car elevator. The corners are very tight but manageable with patience!
The apartment also has lots of storage, a few games for the kids, and little things like umbrella, hair dryer, iron, etc. The folder with information and instructions with pictures was very helpful. The space is small as with all big city apartments, but perfectly comfortable and there is plenty of room to move about even when the couch is open. We never met Serge (his housekeeper met us) but he is a very responsive host and very understanding even if we were 30 minutes late checking out because the Metro chose to shut down on us the morning we were leaving. VERY highly recommend this property!