Rue Montorgueil is a famous pedestrian street lined with food-related establishments. Due to this and its proximity to Chatelet/les Halles, the street can be quite animated. Marie’s apartment is on the 5th floor (6th floor for Americans, since we count the ground floor as the first floor). There is a very secure feeling with three locked doors before accessing the elevator.

Marie was very flexible about our check-in time. We took an overnight flight and arrived at Rue Montorgueil about 9 a.m. Marie wasn’t there to greet us due to family circumstances. Her mother answered the buzzer and gave us a quick primer on how to open the doors.

The apartment is sunny. There are two levels as shown in the photos. To get to the bedroom and full bathroom on the upper level, you have to go up a steep and narrow spiral staircase. One of us had a recent ankle injury and had to be careful going up and down the spiral staircase. Thank goodness for the elevator which made moving our luggage in and out and our frequent comings and goings as we explored the city very easy. There is also a half-bathroom on the lower level.

One of the reasons that we chose this Airbnb listing was the emphasis in reviews of the calm and quiet. In fact, with the windows closed, it is fairly quiet given its location, what with the hubbub of diners, shoppers and sometimes street buskers below. The other sounds include the bells of the St. Eustache church peeling on the hour and the half hour, which was pleasant. You can also hear a loud rumble and feel vibrations from the Metro/RER periodically.

The apartment was very clean. Having experienced other Airbnb listings, I must emphasize the lovely cleanliness.

Both the bed upstairs and the brown couch were very comfortable. The brown couch in the living room would not be a long enough sleeper for anyone over approximately 5’6” or 170 cm.

The wifi signal was strong and the service was not superfast, but good enough for our needs. When we first got there, we had to reboot the router, but we’re used to having to do this at home (we just unplugged the power for ten seconds and then plugged it back in – easy).

We should mention that the one of us who is much more sensitive to noise was bothered by the street noise, even with the windows closed; she felt that between the pedestrian street activities and the noise from the trains the soundscape was constant. However, she still enjoyed her time there and has fond memories. We would recommend this apartment highly.