My boyfriend and I traveled to Paris recently to celebrate my 50th birthday. We had wanted a special experience, and the Notre Dame apartment on rue Galande delivered in every possible way! Reserving the apartment was a breeze and Michel was very thorough in the information he forwarded to us.
The apartment is on a small street on the Left Bank, next to a charming pair of medieval buildings. A four digit code unlocks the door downstairs, then there is a hall, a few stairs, a small elevator, and few more stairs to the unit itself. We accessed the key by using another code in a lockbox just outside the door. It’s a bit challenging to navigate the stairs and the tiny elevator with luggage, but it’s rare to have an elevator in Paris at all, and the view more than makes up for it!
The apartment itself is well-represented by the pictures that Michel posted. The art wall with antique paintings of Notre Dame is elegant, and the mirrors on the opposite side make the apartment feel even more spacious. There is an abundance of storage space, and the guidebooks on the bookshelf were a nice touch. We didn’t cook at all in the kitchen, but we found the full size refrigerator useful, and we used the washer/dryer once. We were in Paris during a warm spell in July and the air conditioning worked perfectly.
The view out the windows in the apartment is stunning, and when it’s cool enough to turn the AC off and leave the windows open, you can enjoy the sound of church bells. There is a grocery store nearby, a small park across the street, and Shakespeare & Company bookshop just around the corner. We walked much of the time, but also used the metro extensively. Several stops are close by, including St-Michel Notre Dame and Cluny La Sorbonne. The apartment is also quite close to the RER B, which makes travel to and from the airport easy.
I’ve traveled extensively in Europe, and been to Paris a number of times before, but our experience here truly stands out—it was elegant, intimate, and exceptional. Thank you, Michel!