Paris Apartment - 2 Bedroom Rental in Bastille, Le Marais - Notre Dame - Hôtel de Ville (PA-4775)

Highly recommend this apartment! It is a perfect balance between experiencing a more local-friendly neighborhood and being in a very vibrant and exciting part of Paris. The owner is very kind and knowledgeable about Paris. He is also very accommodating and readily available for advice or assistance. It was a pleasure having him as a host.

The view makes quite a statement overlooking the dome of the Pantheon, the Eiffel Tower, the bell towers of Notre Dame, La Defense in the distance, and the Sacre Couer. I do submit a challenge for anyone to manage all 5 of those in one shot.

The immediate neighborhood feels intimate and as residential as it gets in Paris' city center. However within a 5 minute walk are still plenty of excellent restaurants and cafes with a range of cuisines as well as small markets and quality boulangeries--plus access to the Seine in a popular spot for local festivals and events. I do recommend exploring the local neighborhood as the store owners are all very welcoming. Within a 15 minute radius on foot, you can access the Marais, Ile Saint Louis (Notre Dame if you're quick), and Bastille. Using the metro (multiple stations within 5 minute walk) virtually all of Paris is within 20-35 minutes, and Gare de Lyon is easily walkable with luggage, conveniently opening up a good portion of West Europe. The apartment itself feels very secure and is filled with polite and friendly neighbors. There is an elevator, but a few steps to reach for anyone with disability.

The apartment is well equipped, spacious, and comfortable. The dual bathrooms were especially welcome. There is also a washing machine in the unit and a drying rack for clothes --it is not the largest washer, so there are some local commercial laundromats for larger loads of bedding or towels that I would recommend. The fridge is spacious and comes with a freezer. If it is a very hot day (+90F/33C), this apartment will be warm as it is an upper floor and Parisian apartments usually don't have A/C; however the owner proactively reached out about a pending heatwave and arranged to keep the apartment cool and pleasant--he was a life saver and really cared about our experience.

As for some nitpicks, I would have liked a more comfortable bed in the second bedroom--the master bed was great though. I also think some of the closets could do with some light repair and some additional storage but it was nothing that disrupted things.

During any trip, housing is very important, but I think even more so for a longer stay. While this apartment might not have all the refinements of a Parisian luxury hotel, it really had everything we could have wanted to live comfortably for months in such a happening part of the city. I often found myself forgetting where I was and feeling just at home, until of course I looked out those classic French doors and saw the City of Light laid out before me, only steps away.