ile saint louis – Francois et Moi

Parisian Dwelling

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Wed, 28 May 2014 13:18:20 +0000

It’s been a long-running dream of mine to live in Paris at some point in my life, so when researching where to stay while visiting Paris, we decided to rent an apartment rather than stay in a hotel in an attempt to shake the tourist label and simulate that feeling of calling this city home (at least for a few days!). We wanted a discreet address on a quiet side street, and we found just that through Parisaddress, an apartment rental company that offers hundreds of flats (in all styles and price ranges) located throughout Paris. We went with a studio located on Île Saint-Louis, one of Paris’ natural islands, because of the killer central location. The flat was less than a block from the river, and when you leaned out the window and looked to your left, you could see it! Check out the flat’s listing for that river view. Not only was the river a great wayfinding tool, but the central location made it super easy to walk most places and take the metro everywhere else. Our flat had recently been renovated and felt modern, yet comfortable with touches of Parisian charm. How incredible are those huge casement windows?! There was a cool murphy bed, the kind that folds down from the wall, […]

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5 Days in Paris: DAY ONE

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 26 May 2014 14:50:51 +0000

Fresh off a 9 hour overnight flight from Minneapolis to Paris, we were exhausted, but never more excited and anxious to discover what adventures might await us in this magical city. Our flight landed at 9am Paris time, and the first order of business was finding our flat and getting settled in. We took the metro from Charles de Gaulle airport into the City and met the rep from Paris Address at our flat on Île Saint-Louis, one of the natural islands on the Seine in Central Paris. He gave us the key to our place, showed us around the apartment, and then wished us a great stay and was on his way (More on our flat tomorrow!). Though we were pretty tired from our overnight flight, we knew we couldn’t take a nap, or we’d sleep all afternoon and never really get off of Minneapolis time, so we took an hour to settle in and then set out to explore the neighorborhood. On our way to the apartment from the airport, we passed a boulanger on Rue Saint-Louis en L’Île, so we swung back over and picked up sandwiches to walk with. Ken chose a Croque Monsieur, and I picked a mozzarella & tomato baguette. We wandered the quaint streets of Île Saint-Louis ducking into scarf boutiques […]

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Printemps à Paris

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 14:23:24 +0000

Ken and I are heading abroad in May, and the details of our trip are slowly starting to come together, so I thought I’d share what we’ve got in the lineup so far for Paris, the first stop on our journey… First things first, we’ve rented a flat on the Île Saint-Louis, a self-contained, atmospheric island on the River Seine.We chose to stay in a flat in a discreet neighborhood, as opposed to a hotel because we want the experience of feeling less like a tourist and more like a local. The flat is adjacent to the island’s mainstreet with quaint restaurants, art galleries, and shops selling everything from cheese to silk scarves, and the island’s central location should be a great home base for zipping around the city. The image above is the street view from our place. Notice the Seine? Metro Stop: Cité Paris’ bike rental scheme, Velib, was implemented in 2007 about a year after my last visit to Paris, so it’s something I look forward to doing this time around. Ken and I both love to bike, and it sounds like it will be a great way to get from point A to point B without missing anything […]

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