The apartment is virtually on the Place de la Bastille and convenient to the Marais. A Metro station is just across the street. The square is lively and noisy but the noise does not reach the apartment, which is two flights up and at the back end of the building. My first impression of the building was not positive: the hallway is narrow and dingy and theclimb to the apartment is difficult if there is heavy luggage - two narrow, curving flights of 17 awkward steps each. However, the apartment itself was perfectly clean and up-to-date. It has two spacious bedrooms, each with a comfortable double bed, a wardrobe, good overhead lighting, and a small bedside lamp, not strong enough for easy reading. The look of the apartment is rather bare though it has a sofa, coffee table, and a round dining table with four slightly unstable chairs. The washing machine is a great convenience. The neighborhood is rich with bars, cafes, fast food outlets, clothing stores, and so on, mostly catering to a younger population. An energetic cat twice bounded into the apartment when we left the kitchen window open but it soon left.