Bonjours Jamie and Claude,  

It is 7 am Wed. am and I am still trying to beat this "jet lag".  It lasted about 2 days in Paris but here, I go to bed early and sleep hard for four hours and then am awake most of the rest ofthe night.  C'est la vie, n'est-ce pas?  I know it will get better soon.     

 Well, we had the most fabulous trip and we loved our apt. on Rue de Picardie!  You were right, it was a jewel, clean and everything well-appointed.  I loved washing the dishes and turning around and putting them on the shelf (the glasses and sliverware). The washer and dryer were a plus as we virtually came home with clean clothes except those I needed to take to the cleaners.  The deep tub in the bathroom was very lovely for luxurious bathes, which I did take at night. We don't have these here.      

We did not have Jacques pick us up at the airport, but Josef.  He was lots of fun, driving us to Paris I am sure in record time!!  Howsomeever,  when it came to finding Rue de Picardie, even though he had been there before, he had a hard time trying to find how to negotiate the little streets the right way to get us to our front door.  He got a little frustrated and finally asked someone on the street and we finally got there and met Eric.  He was wonderful, spoke so well, was very helpful and sweet. He is definitely great and a "people person". Does he manage a lot of other properties?  Maybe someone stole the hairdryer?  because you said there was one there.     

We absolutely loved bundling up in our "layers" of clothing and then "wrapping up in our neck scarves andhats to go out in the snow.  It actually snowed every day but we just kept going.  Every morning we went down and bought pastries from the various patisseries and baggettes from the boulangerie down a few blocks, cheeses from the fromaggerie, and each morning either Sally and John would come to our apt. or we would meet at theirs for our morning repast and then set off on our sightseeing for the day.  We saw extensively Notre Dame, Saint Chappel, and Sacre Coure.  We then took  a City Tour with Paris Trip, had a fabulous guide in a minnie shuttle. His name was Honore or (phonetically Honor-ray) and took Skip and me with two other women to every area of Paris, explaining the history, etc. of every palais and  monument.  It was so cold and snowing that the Eiffel Tower was not working, but it was worth it and he really brought Paris alive to us and especially nice for my husband who had never been to Europe. We liked him so much that we booked him for two days later for Versailles.  We also booked with them to pick us up at the the apt. at 7:30 am for our flight home.   We had to pay extra because of the time being earlier than 8 am, but the company was very reliable and one that I think you could suggest to others there, especially for their first trip.  We also went to the Louvre with Sal and John and had a wonderful bowl of Fr. onion soup at Royal Turenne, within walking distance of the apt. on Rue de Turenne.       

So , sweet girl, thanks for all you did to get us set up.  I will get the number for you for Paris Trip if you'd like.  We had a wonderful time, and my husband last night even said,"Thank you, dear, for talking me into going to Paris"!! You were both so helpful and made us feel as though we could do this even though we were not sure of where wewere going and didn't speak the language well.  It was fun for me to try though. 

Thank you, thank you, and merci!!

Sharie and Skip C.

Jamie,

We had a wonderful time, thanks for all your help.  One misfortune to report, we managed to break one of the wine glasses, so apologies. Apartment was fantastically located, and we managed to get the children to walk a fair bit.  Favourite restaurants were 404 and Chez Omar, both really lovely with the children, plus we are real couscous fans so couldn't go wrong!  We got to the Louvre, the Picasso Museum, the Pompidou Centre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Natural History Museum, the Science Park, Versailles, Sacre Coeur and Montmartre.  Weather was fine but cold and getting there by Eurostar couldn't have been easier.  Who knows, may be in touch re San Fransisco one of these days especially if the dollar remains so low against the pound.

Regards and thanks again!

Katie

Hi Jamie,

We have been back home for less than a week and still working on reentry. We had a terrific time despite the cold weather. Eric was really excellent to work with and we enjoyed getting to know him. He really helped me last Wednesday when I walked out of the apartment without the key. He had us back in within an hour.

The apartment was very, very comfortable. We also much preferred the neighborhood to the southern Marais for a place to stay. Everyone very friendly. Enjoyed Estimanet, Chez Omar and Le Pamphlet immensely.

Thanks for all of your help. All the Best,

John B.

All that being said, here are some observations and recommendations that could allow you to further improve your travelers' experience...

Our arrival at CDG was pretty frustrating. It was very difficult to find a phone to call our host at the apartment. The phones wouldn't accept cash, and we chewed thru several credit cards before we were able to connect. I don't know if phone cards are the way to go, but some practical advice on this would have been appreciated.

Other than these, the experience was wonderful and memorable.

Thanks.