When visiting a big city, I like to get a feel of what it’s like to live there. I discovered One Fine Stay when we were searching for an apartment for a one-week stay in London and was very pleased with the experience. For our recent trip to Paris, we decided to rent an apartment through Haven in Paris, an American-based company that offers curated vacation rentals in the city of love. HIP was extremely easy to deal with online and through email; they provided helpful and practical information in the Home Guide, which we received shortly after booking. Our greeter was at the apartment when we arrived, weary from our flight, with a fresh vase of flowers and a bottle of wine. She walked us through the practical aspects — like how to use the cable and washing machine — and also gave us tips on great places to check out around the neighborhood.
Our friends recommended we stay in St. Germain des Pres, a cool, lively neighborhood that is also centrally located. We were steps from the metro, which was our main source of transportation other than our feet, and walking distance to the Louvre, the Seine River, Luxembourg Gardens and more. The neighborhood was home to countless great places to eat and shop. Not only were big name French brands and the iconic Le Bon Marche within a stone’s throw, it was a design haven with loads of home decor stores surrounding us. If only we had enough time to visit each one! (More on shopping in a future post.) And despite the online warnings that Parisians don’t eat dinner before 7 (which is true), there was no shortage of great restaurants to grab a bite at any hour, as it seemed Parisians eat/lounge at all hours of the day and well into the night. We really couldn’t walk a block without spying a tempting boulangerie or chocolate shop — our favorite was L’Éclair de Génie, which offered dozens of different eclairs (their salted caramel is divine).
The apartment itself was stylishly decorated and comfortable for our family of four. With two bedrooms and two bathrooms, there was plenty of space to spread out when we came “home” tired from a long day. The washing machine and dryer allowed us to pack lighter and save room in our suitcase for souvenirs. We also enjoyed making coffee every morning to pair with the Kouign-amann that we picked up across the street at Maison Georges Larnicol. We enjoyed our haven in Paris for the week, and can’t wait to return!
Photo courtesy of Haven in Paris. For more pics, click here. This post is not sponsored, we love sharing our finds & faves with readers.
