Apartment Living

For this trip to Paris, we decided to rent an apartment rather than staying in a hotel.  Apartment rentals here are very popular and provide a great alternative.  Since we would have needed two hotel rooms anyway, renting our two-bedroom apartment kept us together and gave us a kitchen where we could cook some of our own meals.  We really put the kitchen to more use than we originally thought we would.

Our apartment was located on the Ile Saint Louis, one of two connected islands in the middle of the River Seine, right in the heart of Paris.  We were just a short walk from Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Latin Quarter, and many of the major sites within Paris.  Although we could have found two hotel rooms that may have been a little less expensive, when you factor in the fantastic location and the full kitchen, it was a much better deal.

Looking out our apartment window at the River Seine

Our apartment was on the fourth floor overlooking the Seine, in a building originally constructed in the 17th century (in much of Europe, the first floor is considered Floor 0, so perhaps we should say we were on the third floor).  We were within easy walking distance to three different metro lines which made taking the subway a breeze.  Most Parisians live in apartments or condos, because it is a densely populated, urban environment and there aren't the typical single-family homes like we're accustomed to here in the United States.  We definitely felt as though we were experiencing Parisian like a local--except of course for our language skills.