Laurent's apartment is small, as I had expected, but well-equipped and totally suitable for one or two people. I had booked for a week but I could have happily stayed longer. The main room has two comfortable couches that can be quickly made up at night. They are day beds rather than pull-out sofa beds, which as an elderly person I appreciated: I sometimes find pull-out beds too heavy. The kitchen has an excellent range of cooking equipment and pantry items, so I ate out only twice during my week's stay, saving me a great deal of money. A small supermarket is just around the corner and there are also many specialist shops, including a superb butcher, a cheese shop with a delectable display, a couple of excellent fruit-and-vegetable shops, a Nicolas if you want a more up-market wine than the supermarket provides, a couple of fast-food outlets and several inexpensive restaurants and bars.
Living in Laurent's apartment is to experience life as lived by ordinary Parisians. I don't believe I saw a single tourist in the area but I joined the locals shopping, going to the post office, hopping on the local bus or disappearing into the metro. There is a bus stop a minute's walk away and it may take about two minutes to get to the nearest metro. The area is very busy day and night, so I had no worry about coming back to the apartment at night, but the apartment itself is in a courtyard at the back of the building and is very quiet.
An added bonus in staying in Laurent's apartment is his delightful collection of art work, of which my favourite was the display case of stunning pottery in the kitchen. Laurent himself could not have been more welcoming or more responsive to any requests.