My son (31) and I (62) spend seven glorious nights in Patrick's quiet, clean, inviting apartment. Even though the apartment is on a relatively busy street, as soon as you enter the door, you're enveloped in quiet. We loved Patrick's decor, lots of books and interesting art work, fully equipped kitchen and fabulous water pressure in the bathroom. The neighborhood was very safe, even at night, and full of great shops and bistros. We were visiting a niece who is studying in Paris; she showed us how to use the metro to get to attractions further away, like Monmartre and the Rodin Museum, a gem. But we love to stroll and appreciated that we could easily walk to the Seine and Notre Dam and The Place des Vosges. Shopping in the Marais was great; my son and niece cruised through the vintage stores; I bought shoes and a designer coat at an outlet store, 50% off! There's a famous falafel restaurant (don't know the name) in the Marais that serves delicious food.
All the restaurants in the area serve great food at reasonable prices. Most of the time we were the only Americans. The best meal we had was at fulgurances, which my niece took us too; classical French food with an Asian flare. Just be forewarned that if you like to sit outside and soak up the Parisian cafe scene, which we do, be prepared to deal with smokers; the young crowd sure love to smoke!
We also went to Versailles; the train station is in walking distance as well. We wanted to go on Sunday, when the fountains are running, but it rained. We went to Versailles on a sunny day, had a picnic beside the Grand Canal, a relaxing way to spend an afternoon.
Patrick's apartment is non-smoking, mold free (which is an issue for me), and provided two separate bedrooms with comfy beds. And we were greeted with a bottle of red wine: just add a baguette from the bakery down the street, some cheese and pate and you're ready to start your vacation.