We were so lucky to be the first guests at Chantal’s lovely apartment. We always prefer to rent from a well-vetted and well-reviewed host, but we were fortunate to have met Chantal’s nephew who is a lawyer in Paris and he told us all about her and her beautiful, large apartment and so we took a chance and we are so happy we did! Chantal was delightful. She met us on arrival, welcomed us with a bottle of rose wine, and walked us through the apartment. She gave us her contact information and assured us she would be available to assist if we had any questions. The apartment is more beautiful than the pictures! It is in a secure building in a lovely neighborhood near the Arc de Triumph. It has an elevator, a reception room, a large living room and dining room (I had to do some law school work while we were traveling and I liked to sit at the large dining room table and look out toward the bakery across the street and watch the light play off the gorgeous tree on the corner). The kitchen is well outfitted, with everything one needs for cooking – and it even has a microwave! (great for folks like me who don’t drink their coffee fast enough and it needs a heat-up). There was a Nespresso machine that made great coffee and Chantal had boxes and boxes of coffee pods of all types for us to try. The primary bedroom is very large and as with the other rooms the ceilings are so very high and the windows are fabulous, looking out at well-maintained other apartments that formed a courtyard of sorts in the back (this is a neighborhood of multi-million dollar apartments). The bedding was excellent quality (Frette) and the bed was so comfortable.The primary bath was very large with a dressing area. The bath had been remodeled with top-of-the-line fixtures and well decorated. The bathtub was at least 7 feet long and beautiful. There was also a separate large modern laundry room with separate washer and dryer (most European rentals we’ve had only have a small combo washer/dryer). The laundry room was stocked with all sorts of cleaning supplies, as was the kitchen. There is a tiny gourmet grocery just below the apartment and a larger grocery store a few doors down that stayed open until 11 pm (we made many late-night runs for this or that). The bus is easy to catch just a few doors away and the metro is just a few blocks away. There are plenty of restaurants in the area (some very famous like Forquet on the Champs de Elysee) and others more family-run like Ziti, an Italian restaurant a few blocks away that we went to TWICE because it was so good (I lived in Italy and this was the best Italian food I have had in Paris). We have already asked Chantal if we could rent her wonderful apartment again for a few weeks this December – it is a gem!