I started this series of posts to show pictures of different places we've rented for vacations in France since the year 2000. Then I got sidetracked by Chenonceau and other Loire Valley castles. I'll try to get back to the gîtes and appartements now. Recapping: in October 2000 we spent a week staying in a gîte (a rented house) in the Loire Valley, a week on the road (Champagne and Normandy for me and Walt; the Pyrennes Mountains and Basque Country for our friend Sue.) During that week, we stayed in hotels. Finally, we spent the last week of our vacation in Paris in a apartment in the Marais district. It was on the rue Vieille-du-Temple (no. 75), near its intersection with the rue des Francs-Bourgeois.
If you look at this Google Maps aerial view of the neighborhood, you can see the cobble-stoned courtyard (photo above) and also the inner courtyard, a green garden, behind it (photo below). By the way, this address is a 15-minute walk from Notre-Dame cathedral and about half an hour's walk from the Pyramide du Louvre or the Jardin du Luxembourg.
The one-bedroom apartment we rented had windows on the street and on the courtyard. And it had what they call poutres apparentes in the living room — exposed beams on the ceiling. I'm pretty sure we didn't pay more than about $100 per night for the three of us. There was a comfortable platform bed in the living room for Sue to sleep on.
Other California friends of ours happened to be spending a week or two in Paris at that time as well. We took advantage of the benefits of staying in an apartment, as you can see. A glass of wine with some cheeses made for a light dinner or a copious apéritif. It was a nice way to visit and share stories and plans before going out for a restaurant dinner or just a walk down by the Seine.
I'll post more photos tomorrow. Staying in a rental apartment in Paris is great too because you don't have to go to restaurants twice a day, and you can have breakfast in the apartment at a leisurely pace. That saves some money, and means you can enjoy shopping for food in little shops, supermarkets, or open-air markets. Maybe one day we'll be able to go back to Paris and again spend some time there — once this crazy coronavirus is under control.
It's so great to stay in an apartment!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the prices are like these days.
DeleteLovely courtyard and garden area. Other than my first trip to Paris, it’s always been apartments for me too. That way I can afford to eat more foie gras!
ReplyDeleteJe comprends. I lived in Paris apartments from 1974 until '76, and then again between 1979 and 1982. Walt and I rented many Paris apartments for vacations between 1994 and 2006.
DeleteOh how we would love to go and stay in Paris again. When we get our old world back.
ReplyDeleteIf we do. Someday.
DeleteYour mention of rue Vieille du Temple brought back some fond memories. An old friend lives on the street in a building sans ascenseur on the fourth or fifth floor. Back in the 70s, the PTT were going to install a telephone in her apartment. This was in the days when France’s telephone service was viewed as hopelessly incompetent et pour cause, and it was common to be on a waiting list for years for a phone.
ReplyDeleteMy friend came home one day in the early 70s to discover that her telephone had been installed – but in the apartment facing hers on the landing. I don’t remember how it worked out, but the neighbors were not unhappy to have a phone as they, too, had been waiting for one.
I'm sure you remember Anne Boryk (sp?) and Alain Ouvrier. I remember that when they lived in Paris (or the close suburbs) in the early 1970s there was a two-year waiting period between ordering a phone and getting one installed. For people like me, or us, who lived a year in Paris and then a year in Champaign, going back and forth, it was impossible to have a home telephone in France. Not until 1979 did it become easy to get a phone, but maybe that was only if you already had a line installed in your apartment and you just needed the telephone itself (with its écouteur — I always liked those). I remember Anne because she had lived part of her childhood in Burgaw, NC, not that far from where I came from (but still the edge of nowhere). Alain was a character too. He was from Rouen, and they ended up living there. I remember going to see them in their apartment not too far from the train station. Wonder what ever happened to Barbara Bova?
DeleteThat photo with the cheese assortment looks tempting! Speaking of the Marais (isn't that a great area?), I was reading about Cocteau last night and discovered a French actor named Jean Marais. Quite the looker!
ReplyDeleteJean Marais played the role of king François Ier in a famous film released in 1956. The Marais district in Paris is fantastic. I had good friends who lived there, back when I lived not far away just off the rue Montorgueil at Les Halles.
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