It’s a sunny, quiet, one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a building – with a lift, of course – in a gated square on the Left Bank, 500metres from the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. It’s close to museums and galleries, but far from the noise heavier tourist areas suffer at night and (often) day, too.
It can be yours from $A1,200 –$A1,900 per week, depending on the season and how long you stay. We are happy to discuss the better rate for longer stays. You can book and make all arrangements in Australia via jhempton@iinet.com.au or call 02 93873899, and you will benefit from our experience and our tips, which we are glad to share over a coffee or on email.
In the apartment you have a washing machine and dishwasher, TV, internet and free Wi-Fi and a recently renovated bathroom.
Best of all, according to our return guests – and unlike other apartment rentals – we send you with your keys and instructions so that when you arrive, you can head straight for your apartment and drop your bags. No waiting to be met, no rigid 2pm check in. If the previous guests have just left and our housekeeper is still there, you just go and have a coffee at one of the many excellent nearby patisseries and cafés while she finishes up.
The apartment is on a street well known to Parisians for its many shops and restaurants, and transport is easy with two nearby metro stations and four local bus routes to take you all over the city. The 69 bus takes you to the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, but you can get off a little sooner and visit the wonderful Musée Rodin, and the 80 bus takes you to the wonderful department stores, Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Their sales are on in early July and early January.
If cemeteries are your thing, the 69 bus goes to the famous Père Lachaise cemetery and the 80 takes you to Cimetière Montmartre.
For another kind of adventure, take a culinary tour:
CLICK HERE FOR BUS ROUTE 80 CULINARY TOUR
Bus 28 takes you to Gare St Lazare and Gare Montparnasse, good to know if you are taking off for a day in the country, or if, like us, you like to go to the excellent nearby Saxe Breteuil market on Thursdays and Saturdays.
A five-minute walk from the apartment is the famous rue Cler street market, a pedestrian thoroughfare where you can sit and watch the world go by when you’ve bought your fruit, cheese and baguette.
If you prefer, shop in our street, where there are supermarkets as well as macaron and chocolate shops, butchers and bakers.
Below you’ll find a list of our favourite restaurants and museums, but in our apartment you’ll find a book with cards and reviews of places past guests have discovered. We learn something new from our guests every time we go ourselves.
To see spectacular Australian Aboriginal art, visit the Musée du Quai Branly, a five-minute walk from the apartment; it’s the new ethnographic museum, well worth a visit, and it has a superb collection of art and artefacts from all over the world.
The apartment is also walking distance from the Hôtel des Invalides, Musée de L’Armée and Napoleon’s tomb.
The Seventh is known as one of the most desirable arrondissements in Paris, and is home to the Assemblée Nationale (parliament), embassies including the Australian embassy and UNESCO. It’s here in the seventh that François Hollande was photographed on a motorbike visiting his lover, Julie Gayet…
These are a few of our favourite places, and we recommend you book in advance to avoid the queues:
Fondation Louis Vuitton – a remarkable 2014 Frank Gehry building with a wonderful art collection
Musée Jacquemart André – 158 Boulevard Haussman – former home of wealthy private collectors with a superb collection of art and sculpture. If you like the Frick in New York, you’ll love this. The 80 bus takes you right there.
Musée Nissim Camondo, 63 rue Monceau, another wonderful former stately home, left to the state together with all its art and furniture. A sad story, but a simply amazing collection put together when living in the Parc Monceau was for the über-rich…
If you’re travelling with children, don’t miss the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie. Parents love it, too. A great day’s outing.
CLICK HERE FOR SCIENCE & INDUSTRY MUSEUM
Au Bon Accueil, our favourite local restaurant, 14, rue de Montessuy, about 5 minutes’ walk away. Prix fixe menu at 35 euros is amazing value, and booking is essential especially in summer. Last time we were there, so was famous Japanese-French designer Kenzo. The chef is also Japanese, but the cuisine is a marvellous fusion of the best of both.
There is always someone who speaks English to take your call: 01 47 05 46 11
There are now fixed price taxi fares from the two main airports to the apartment – 55 Euros form Charles de Gaulle and 50 Euros from Orly.
The bus option is not so attractive as it used to be. The buses are no longer operated by Air France and now run every half hour rather than every 10 minutes. So if there are two of you, the taxi straight to the apartment costs a little more but this absolutely beats standing in the cold to wait for the bus and then having to wait for a taxi at Etoile.
Taxis in France are not expensive and the drivers are very honest. But please do be aware that the driver may have had to queue a long time for your fare.
You can contact us at jhempton@iinet.net.au.
