On the positive side, the apartment looked basically the way it does in the photos on VRBO. The location is really excellent (except for the fact that very loud deliveries are made every morning to the busiest pharmacy in Paris - according to several people I know - across the street beginning at 6 am). And there are many electrical outlets and the kitchen is very good to cook in including the very large refrigerator which is quite unusual in Paris.

On the negative side, no one met us at the apartment to show us how to use things (we had to pick up our keys at the rental agency on the right bank) and the booklet didn't include how to use the television which we could never figure out. The furnishings were fairly shabby and, in some cases, not very clean. If you intend to cook, you will need to buy absolutely everything - there wasn't even salt and pepper - and there were limited utensils - no spatula to turn fried eggs, for example. Our hot water went out one morning and it took 36 hours for it to be repaired as it was over a weekend and the number the agency gave us to call never picked up.

But the most important thing to know for at least the next year is that there is a major construction project going on directly across the street. When we were there, the weather was beautiful and warm and we couldn't open our windows because of the ear splitting noise from the constant construction - welding, jackhammers, concrete pouring - outside starting at 8 am going until 7 pm. When the windows were open, we really could not hear each other. This resulted in us not being able to be in the apartment during the day. Given the magnitude of this project (the whole building was gutted) it will go on for at least a year through spring of 2019. We really should have been warned before we arrived and, we also should have been given the choice to cancel or have a discount on the price. This is especially true because when I visited the building in February (two months before we rented), there was no sign that the building across the street would be completely gutted or I would not have rented the apartment. This project is so major that I am sure the landlord was informed well in advance. I have asked for a partial refund but have not received a response. I am sure once this project is complete, it would be a fine apartment to rent but I would not recommend it right now.