The apartment is located on the outskirts of what the traditional tourist would consider to be "Paris"... this, for our family group, is a great PLUS. We were able to get into and out of the tourist areas within half of an hour by public transport and.. ... the really long trip to Versailles, including changing stations, was less than an hour -excluding the 10 minute walk in Versailles from the station to the palace.
As we were 4 adults plus a toddler, we decided to take a taxi from CDG, which took about 45 minutes coming in and just over an hour on our return. It's possible to use the Metro for that trip, provided you can manage your own bags and go up several flights of Metro stairs. The Metro station is close, less than 5 minutes at toddler walking speed and 2 minutes for a healthy adult.... a really healthy adult will take 10 minutes, as the corner bakery is difficult to pass without a visit (closed Wednesdays and Thursdays) their breads, especially the whole-flour (original) baguette is superior to what we "had to buy" on the Wednesday and Thursday from other bakeries in the area.
When we arrived at the apartment, thanks to Google Earth, the area was quite familiar, as was the building, but that's where familiarity ended... the ground floor foyer was immaculate, friendly and airy. We followed instructions, expecting Nadia to answer the intercom, but instead, it was the resident home owner, Jeanne, who came down to greet and guide us via the elevator to the apartment, where we met Pierre, her partner. Photographs of the apartment on the net are accurate; they do not, however, do justice to the place. Light comes in from 3 sides.. not just words, in the day, light flows in to give a wonderful warm feeling, which is added to by the distance of the closest buildings.
Our hosts, Jeanne and Pierre had their packed bags outside the apartment, ready for their trip to Corsica, which added to the excitement of two ships passing in the night. Our intensive tour of the apartment gave us the feeling that it was, indeed, our home away from home for a week. A local map added to that feeling, as did the drinks in the fridge and the coffee machine, which our son-in-law used to great effect, when he used the more than ample WiFi to catch up on business late at night.
Besides the WiFi, a basic TV station was available, but no telephone.. that, more than anything, dropped a star from my appraisal. We were given the apartment's phone number to give to our associates for contact reasons; sadly, the non-appearance of the phone was in inverse proportion to our ability to be in contact. Had we known about that, we would have ordered French cell numbers before our departure from home.
The lounge, decorated on one side by the TV and scores of audio CD's, plus art books, was an easy place for our family to meet and stretch-out.
The bed rooms were comfortable, the beds narrower than conventional doubles.. maybe that's part of the of Paris's sensuousness... the duvets more than sufficient. We were offered a child's cot which, after experimenting, we did not use, in favor of a large cushion.
The toilet is separate from the bathroom, a very small room with its own basin, many air sprays and a huge collection of bound comic books.
The bathroom is more than adequate, the floor partially protected from shower splashes by a transparent screen.
The sun room/dining room is one step above the lounge, on the same level as the open-air roof garden which gives a feeling of space to both of those rooms.
The kitchen is narrow, but well equipped. The kitchen sink and work space (above the dishwasher) look out through a large sliding window to an open area towards the neighboring high-rise apartment, giving food preparation a feeling of light and space. There is no shortage of cutlery or crockery. Our experience with cooking was the more than adequate glass stove-top (we did not touch the oven). Next to the oven is a dual washing machine/dryer, the dryer part did not cooperate with us.
As entrance to the building is through two doors, the outer one either press-code or electronic pass operated and the inner, via the electronic pass or response through the intercom from the apartment, it is essential that you have the electronic pass with you, or someone has to be in the apartment to grant access to the lift area. Only one electronic pass was made available, which interfered with easy management of our group's movements.
On Friday and Tuesday mornings, a sizeable market is held near the Metro, where fresh fruit and vegetables are available, otherwise, the local supermarket is well stocked.
All in all, we enjoyed our stay, being outside the hussle and bustle of the city centre was great for us, we could feel the experience of a quick commuter hop to the suburb and even hired bikes from next to the Metro, to get into town.
My biggest problem was the abundance of tasty and attractive food in the area, which demands a drastic diet now that I'm back home.
This was our first experience of Airbnb and feel that the organization worked very well for us. About the apartment, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and definitely recommend this wonderful home from home to other members.