The apartment was charming and felt like a home away from home. It felt like a happy family lives there!
The view is wonderful - I sat out on the balcony with my coffee or wine to read my book, and every time I glanced up, there was the Eiffel tower. The place is close to the Abbesses and Pigalle metro stops - an easy (1-2 min) walk to both. There are fantastic bakeries and cafes/restaurants along and off Rue des Abbesses, a cheese shop, a butchers and fish shop, and 2 pharmacies/chemists very close by too. My favourite bakery was Le Grenier à Pain: croissants, pain au chocolat, macarons, and delicious sandwiches - you should try them all! Check out the wall of love in a little park behind the Abbesses metro entrance. It's an easy walk up to Sacre Coeur (if you don't mind stairs ;) , there is a lovely little Dalí gallery up there too, and that square for cheap art or caricatures.
We were there in August, so a few places were closed. We were lucky to miss the heat waves as there is no air conditioning almost everywhere. We knew the apartment had none, but were very surprised that there were no fans. Of our 6 nights, 2 were very still and very muggy so it was tough to sleep, even with all the windows open. We were careful to close the windows and blinds/curtains during the day, and to open all the windows in the evenings - this worked for 4 nights but not the other 2. Fans would have been a great help, both to make it feel cooler, and to act as white noise. The location is central, so we expected noise, and there was traffic and revelry noise pretty much on and off all night. All part of the ambience :)
The main bedroom was very comfortable but there was minimal room for clothing - the hosts pushed their stuff back on the shelves but there were no empty drawers, and no hanging space. There was a metal bar on the wall (maybe for a musical instrument) so I used that - there were plenty of hangers available. The futon was easy to turn into a bed. The kids' room had a toddler bed, a single bed and a fold out mattress. There was no room for the kids' clothes so they lived out of their suitcases.
The kitchen was fine for our needs: a cooker, oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer (there is a drying rack out on the balcony, so we used that instead of the dryer). Pots, pans, dishes, etc all there. The bathroom was really cute and there was plenty of room for all of our stuff.
The living/dining room was a good size.
We were able to get fruit, milk, pasta, sauces, treats, toilet paper, soap, and alcohol in the little shop across the street.
A few words of advice: you can book tickets for the Louvre and the Eiffel tower online weeks ahead of time (for the elevator only - not if you want to climb up - you have to queue up on the day for that.). The Louvre was sold out the day we went there, and there are often long lines for the Eiffel Tower.
There were 2 options for the Metro weekly card: we opted for the navigo card as it was much cheaper, and included all 5 metro zones including the airport (Charles De Gaulle). You are supposed to put your photo on it - there was a little shop near the Abbesses metro entrance that copied our passport photos (could copy 4 passports on 1 page for 10cent,) cut them out, tape them on and you're good to go.
We needed a doctor while we were there, and every local office I called was closed for holidays, but a lovely lady told us about SOS Médecins who will come to your home to see the patient, and write prescriptions; you can also go to them. The cost for our home visit was Euro 110 (2019), and the doctor came within 2 hours - they sent a doctor who spoke English.
All in all, we were very happy in this apartment, and loved the area.