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Rental Companies
Self-catering
vacation apartments are very popular in Paris, with myriad companies
offering a wide range of properties. Rental policies are similarly
varied. Many small firms will ask you to send a deposit in advance or
to pay in cash when you arrive. See the
How To section for tips on
sending money abroad.
Vacation rental
companies operating in Paris include the following. (If you’re having
trouble finding “Paris” on any of these sites, try searching on “Ile de
France” instead.)
Home Away
This Texas-based
company has been acquiring pre-existing rental Web sites
since opening in 2005. It is currently the portal for 11 sites, which
collectively list more than 115,000 properties in more than 90
countries. Home Away connects renters directly with property owners.
Interhome
This Swiss-based
company focuses mainly on European rentals. The site aimed at
Canadians has a few bugs; if you
run into difficulty, try the U.S.
site (note that prices there are in U.S. dollars).
Paris Best Lodge
My husband and I used this
small, Paris-based agency to rent our digs in the city; see the
review
of La Coupole on this page.
Rentalo
One of the largest
worldwide rental portals, with more than 200,000 properties. As well
as rental houses and apartments, it also lists B&Bs, timeshares,
motels and other types of accommodation. You can subscribe to a free
newsletter, and receive notifications of special offers and new
properties in your favourite destinations.
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The La Coupole apartment is just a
few doors down the street to the left of Le Dome restaurant (if that
blue van turned right, it would go right by the apartment).
As soon as we
arrived at La
Coupole (8 rue Delambre, 14th arrondissement), the
studio apartment’s friendly owners invited us to their nearby home for
wine and cheese. Vicky and Pascal’s warm welcome was part of the charm
of this unpretentious little apartment—within a day of moving in, we
felt at home.
At 430 square
feet, the apartment might be a bit small for a long-term stay, but for
a week or two it's more than adequate. The compact kitchen has a
four-burner cooktop, microwave, fridge, toaster and coffee maker—all
the essentials for a light meal. The bed is comfortable and little
street noise drifts in.
The Montparnasse location is unbeatable, near several
main Métro lines and within spitting distance of the Luxembourg
Gardens. You’ll find a small grocery store and a bakery right across
the street, a wine shop on the ground floor, and the famous La Rotonde
and La Coupole cafés right on the corner. And according to Ernest
Hemingway’s account in A Moveable Feast, Papa first met F.
Scott Fitzgerald in the Dingo Bar next door—a building now occupied by
a great Italian restaurant. What more could a civilized temporary
Parisian want?
The only minor drawbacks
I can think of were the shower curtain rod (it had a tendency to fall
down, which may well have been addressed by the time you read this)
and the tiny elevator. The lift was too small for two adults and two
large suitcases. When we moved in, I crammed into the elevator with
the luggage while my husband climbed four flights of stairs to meet me
at the top. After that, we generally avoided the elevator altogether,
so this apartment wouldn’t be the best property for travellers with
mobility issues.
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Even more than
most cities, Paris is defined by its neighbourhoods. Each of the 20
numbered districts, or arrondissements, has its own town
hall, postal code and vibe. Since the first arrondissement is at the
centre of the city and the others follow from it in a spiral
formation, the lower numbers are generally closer to the core. They’re
usually referred to by the French short form of their number; for
instance “1ère” is short for “première” or “first.”
Some of the most
popular neighbourhoods for short-term renters include the following.
1ère: Somewhat
touristy, simply because it’s home to many of the attractions tourists
come to see, including the Louvre. If you can find an apartment here,
it won’t be cheap.
3ème and 4ème:
Together, these two arrondissements comprise the Marais, the
aristocratic heart of 17th-century Paris. After a later
decline, the Marais rebounded and is now a trendy neighbourhood with a
thriving gay culture. The 4ème also includes the two islands,
Ile St. Louis and the
Ile de la Cité, where Paris began; don’t miss famous Notre Dame.
5ème and 6ème: Two
words—Latin Quarter—are all you probably need to know about the 5ème.
Few other areas of Paris evoke the same romantic associations as this
university neighbourhood, beloved by generations of intense students
and ex-pat writers. The adjacent 6ème, known as St. Germain, has a
similar boho rep. Between them, they’ve been home to everyone from
Eugène Delacroix and Thomas Jefferson to Oscar Wilde and Ernest
Hemingway. Prices are considerably higher than they were in the
starving artist heyday of the 1920s.
7ème and 8ème:
Like the 1ère, these neighbourhoods have iconic attractions galore,
including the Eiffel Tower (in the 7ème) and the Champs-Elysées (in
the 8ème). Prices are high and tourists abound.
9ème and 18ème: Pigalle and Montmartre, once famously bohemian
neighbourhoods, now
attract more tour buses than artists. The area around the Moulin Rouge
is seedy, especially at night, but Sacré-Coeur church and the
Clignancourt flea market are worth a visit.
11ème: A
bit rough around the edges, this area has lower rents that attract artists, students
and lively bars.
14ème: The
northern part of large Montparnasse, another former stomping ground of
Hemingway and his lost generation, is a quintessential residential
neighbourhood of four-storey apartment blocks, elegant cafés and tiny
bakeries. An excellent base for exploring the city.
16ème and 17ème:
The 16ème and the western part of the 17ème are home to many of
Paris’s rich and famous. Expect high rental fees.
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