Excellent apartment with a great host.
I know that everybody wants to stay in the Marais, but Montmartre and Sacre Coeur is such a wonderful, interesting area, and I think people are really missing out. I love how close this is to the sights, restaurants, and shopping in the area, while still being very quiet and secluded. It's right up the block from Bouillon Pigalle, one of the busiest restaurants in the city and a great landmark for taxis, and you would never know it.
1. This is a relatively modern building, with an elevator and large rooms (for Paris) in an area that does not have very many of them.
2. The terrace is wonderful; it is rare to get one this big in Paris whether you're in a modern building or not, and this one was lovely. We had a couple of great meals out there with our family that we were visiting.
3. The apartment itself, because it's in a more modern building, doesn't have a lot of inherent charm, but Gilles has decorated it with a fascinating collection of music memorabilia: there are CDs and vinyls and books and tchotchkis and posters and artwork everywhere you look.
4. Gilles is a very responsive host. We ended up coming in significantly later than we thought, and he still met us at the apartment and showed us everything. He answered any questions that I had over text, and was very charming.
5. I love to cook when I'm in Paris, so keep in mind that this apartment, while well-equipped, does not have an oven. That said, Gilles let us use all of the items he had in his kitchen as well as some ingredients that he had on hand.
We have stayed in many different areas of Paris, and we have stayed in many different apartments. This was one of our favorites. If you are looking to stay in Montmartre, I could not recommend this apartment more highly.