Anne's apartment near the historic Porte Saint-Denis (an old entrance in what was once the city walls), is a perfect place to stay if you seek an authentic experience away from the bulk of the tourists. Her tiny, cleverly appointed apartment affords a look into how true Parisians live. Parisians, like New Yorkers, can afford to stay inside their cities by living in apartments smaller than most people are used to. With that said, the charming, little space provides everything one needs: a convertible sofa bed, A/C, a table, a few chairs, a small refrigerator (and really this is typical of Parisienne apartments), microwave, stove, toaster (with clever instructions on how to reheat one's croissant!), shower (lots of good, hot water)/toilet/sink, hair dryer, iron (outlet on wall next to the couch nearest the closet where the iron/ironing boatd are kept), ironing board, a washer, a set of drying clotheslines inside the shower to hang dry clothes (clothes pins are on top of the washing machine; the clotheslines are 2 bars at the top that swing open, then you gently pull the lines forward for a set of 5-6 lines to hang your clothes).
Also, there's a crafty Nespresso machine. Fill the reservoir in the back with water, press the widest button in the back to turn on the machine, swing the bar on top towards the back to open a space for the Nespresso cup, drop in the Nespresso cup flat piece/top towards you, swing the bar back into place to close, select one of the smaller buttons for smaller or larger cups of espresso, let it do its thing. If you want more espresso, press one of the smaller buttons & the machine will produce more coffee, press the button again when you want it to stop. For classic café au lait, fill the small Nespresso pitcher with milk (about equal parts milk to espresso or 2/3 the amount of milk to espresso), heat in the microwave for 1.5 (3 large button presses - they're 30 seconds each) - 2 minutes (4 button presses).
To convert the sofa into a bed, pull the at the top middle; the couch will convert automatically into a bed, & Anne will already have sheets & pillows tucked away inside.
Instructions for the washer are located in the top kitchen drawer to the left of the sink & include instructions in English, but basically, the washer has 3 main cycles depending upon size of the load or how dirty the clothes are: 14, 30, 59 minutes. The pullout drawer on the left-hand part of the washer is where you can put liquid detergent, whitener, or bleach (left rectangular reservoir) or fabric softener (right rectangular reservoir).
But you can reach out to Anne about anything. She came down & showed me how run everything. She's very nice & helpful.
Two pieces of caution:
1) Be careful when showering not to accidentally bump the handle to the right as the water can scald you.
2) Watch your head when opening the microwave as the door might bump you in the head.
Across the street at Monoprix, you can purchase Nespresso cups & other food items, shampoo/conditioner/shower gel/deodorant downstairs while upstairs you can find typical household items like spray starch (Robin brand Fabulon Amidon spray), TP, paper towels, fabric softener).
Items of interest in this area are the many local theatres, shopping "malls" of Galeries Lafayette (which also does 30-minute fashion shows) & Printemps (both are especially lovely at Christmas), the passages (covered streets that protected Parisians from the elements & are lovely places to shop), & the Musée Grevin (wax museum).
Enjoy your time in Paris!