My husband and I are looking to rent an apartment on rue des Quatre Vents (#7) in the 6e in August. Does anyone know this area/street?
We are looking for a safe neighborhood with Parisan charm - restaurants, cafes, boutiques, produce markets, etc. I%26#39;ve done some research online, but wanted to know if anyone here had a personal insight to the area.
Thanks!
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The immediate neighborhood of rue des Quartre Vents is located a block or so south of Blvd. Saint Germain in the upper-6eme. The neighborhood is certainly SAFE. Depending on where you will be located along this short street it will probably be relatively quiet in the evenings---though there are a couple of cafés and bars located along this street...and if your visit happens to coincide with the NHL%26#39;s Stanley Cup..the Moose can get rowdy). During the day it will be moderately active and bustling, with the Marché Saint Germain, just down at one end of the block and Carrefour de l%26#39;Odeon at the other. If you stroll up to Blvd. Saint Germain and the neighborhood between Blvd. Saint Germain and the Seine will have more than enough good restaurants, bistros and cafés to suit almost any taste, appetite or budget. There will also be more than enough interestiong stores and shops to max-out all but AMEX %26#39;black%26#39; in a relatively brief span of time. For markets there is the busy daily (mon-thru-Sat) enclosed Marché Saint Germain just down the block Just across Blvd. Saint Germain, is the busy daily (Mon-thru-Sat) street market (fresh produce, fish, flowers, etc) on and around rue de Buci (Carrefour de Buci). This will probably be the area that you will %26#39;..shop..%26#39;. There is a CHAMPION supermarché on rue de Seine, just in from Blvd. St.G...and any number of boulangeries and patisseries (Kayser%26#39;s, Paul%26#39;s) in this immediate area...and the best roasted chicken in Paris from a stall along rue de Buci. There%26#39;s also a great wine shop, Le DERNIÉRE GOUTTE (at rue de Bourbon-le-Chateau %26amp; rue de l%26#39; Echaude). Closer to rue des Quatre Vents will be Café les Éditeurs on Carrefour de l%26#39;Odeon for breakfasts, lunches and light suppers.
You can take an electronic %26#39;..stroll..%26#39; through the immediate neighborhood in photos to sse what it%26#39;s like by using the PHOTOS de VILLE feature of the PagesJaunes site---
PHOTOS de VILLE--
http://photos.pagesjaunes.fr/
Using the mapping feature of the Pages Jaunes site, you can also print out a detailed local street map of the area and make note of the locations of the various places (supermarché, street markets, shops, restaurants, etc.) that attract your interest in the planning process as a handy aide memoire.
PAGES JAUNES--
http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi?lang=en
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KDKSAIL - Thank you so much for this wealth of information! I took a quick look at the Pages Jaunes website. It looks amazingly helpful. I will be sure to take the electronic %26quot;tour%26quot; when I have more time.
Thanks also for the wine shop tip! We have a tradition of buying bottles to save for anniversaries - this seems like the perfect place to do some shopping.
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KDKSAIL - I did do some more searches on pagesjaunes. I have a somewhat silly question though. When searching, the directory turned up a couple of businesses located at that address. Based on the photos of the area, I am assuming that these business are on the first floors and the apartment is above. (I know the apartment is on the second floor.) Would this be a safe assumption?
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Hi Links 13,
Did you end up staying in the rue des 4 Vents apartment? We are looking at it and were hoping to get your thoughts.
Thanks!
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laughingd2,
I apologize for not responding sooner to your inquiry. Have you already taken your trip? If so, I hope you had a wonderful time. If not, please read on:
I have held off for quite sometime to post our review of this apartment. The reason for my delay is I was hoping to receive our refund of our security deposit of 200 Euros before I gave my honest remarks on our experience here. However, since it has been almost nine months since we left the apartment in great condition and we have STILL NOT received our refund, I have lost hope and no longer feel the need to hold back. I%26#39;m assuming we are out this money and will have to chalk it up to a lesson learned.
Since it appears from my research this unit is no longer available for rent, I won%26#39;t discuss its attributes - which we found lacking. However, I will encourage any future renter to NEVER rent from this agency or our particular agent, Jeanette Coussin.
Jeanette Coussin has proven herself to be unreliable, dishonest, and a poor manager of finances. We have been repeatedly promised our refund, but have not seen a cent. At the start of this process, she was in constant contact and very reassuring that we would get our deposit back. However, after repeated inquiry as to the whereabouts of the money, she started to become less and less communicative. Now we will go months without hearing from her. There is always some story about the %26quot;owner%26quot; not being able to get the money to us for various reasons - illness, out of town, financial hardship, etc. For a while, we were very understanding. Nine months later, we are not, and her lack of action and management skills have cost us 200 Euros.
I would suggest that anyone considering doing business with Jeanette Coussin or For Your Best Time rental agency should NOT work with her or this agency. RUN - do not walk - RUN away! You%26#39;d have less frustration tossing your money down a Parisian sewer drain!
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Hello Links,
There was a lively discussion of people with your experience with Jeanette Coussin and this apartment on the Fodors.com France forum - search for %26quot;Quatre Vents%26quot; and you should find it.
I was lucky enough to see posts from several disgruntled renters right before sending money over, and e-mailed Jeanette, who was slow to respond, and then said not to worry, that the sewage problem the posters referred to had been remedied. (Yikes!) When I asked her for specifics, she sent me several nasty e-mails which tried to blame tenants, the owner%26#39;s physical condition and other reasons for the complaints, and it was clear that this apartment was, at best, bad news, or worse, a scam.
She then told me because of adverse postings the apartment had been %26quot;tainted%26quot; and she was pulling it off the market. What a joke - she kept it on the market for 6 more months, until the agency actually sent me an e-mail asking how I had liked the apartment! I responded as you might imagine, and the apartment was finally pulled off a week or so later - who knows how many others were unfortunate enough to have sent a deposit.
The sad epilogue is, we rented through another agency, My-Apartment-in-Paris.com, but right before we were to leave for Paris, we got word of my father-in-law%26#39;s impending demise, and cancelled the trip. Fortunately we had trip insurance, and were refunded the full amount we had paid.
Thanks for your posting, and I%26#39;m so sorry for your experience with this scam artist.
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Laughing,
Even on the internet, it can be a small world! It appears we both posted on both of these thread - on TA and on Fodors! I started both threads in an effort to do my research prior to our trip. It%26#39;s nice to know I have a friend out there on the same sites thinking the same things!
When we traveled to Paris in August 2007, the apartment didn%26#39;t have the sewer problems others later came to deal with and discussed on Fodors. I guess in many respects, we were lucky; we had a roof and weren%26#39;t shuffled around trying to find a place at the last minute. I%26#39;m sure some of these later building problems resulted in the non-return of our deposit as I%26#39;m sure it is a financial hardship. HOWEVER (and I hate so sound heartless here) that%26#39;s not my problem! I consider (as did Jeanette from her emails) that money to be ours - in effect, she has stolen it from us by not returning it. I’m thrilled to hear she never got any of your money!
I was holding off for so long to post our story because I am a trusting person and truly believed we would eventually get our deposit returned. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and be understanding of her situation. I also wanted very much not to %26quot;taint%26quot; the waters before we got our money back. However, it appears I wasn%26#39;t the only one with a bad experience. Bad news travels fast!
I can%26#39;t carry this bitterness with me, and we have moved on. Granted, I%26#39;ll still stay on her, but my expectations are low - like her business ethics. I chose to share our story to help others avoid the same trap with her. I felt I did as much pre-trip work as I could by checking websites, asking for references, etc, but you just never know. Lesson learned.
On another note, I%26#39;m sorry to hear of your father-in-law’s passing. I wish you and your family all the best. May you find yourselves in Paris soon!
-Links13
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