Chez nous

I’ve been asked about the place where we stayed in Paris. An example of word of mouth booking – a friend of a friend etc. It was recommended by a work colleague of Joe’s whose friends had stayed here. It was located at 20 Rue Rambateau. Behind big wooden doors. You had to key in a code next to it. There are a lot of these double doors leading off the street. In the dark, late at night, after one or two drinks, it is not unknown for you to mix them up! We were able to get our bearings from the Bistrot next door – The Bulldog. Which true to its name had a resident bulldog – French breed of course.

Once inside you proceed up through this covered walkway to a courtyard. You can see a dry-cleaning business at the back of the court-yard. An employee opened the gates every morning at about eight o clock and they stayed open until about seven- thirty. The owner or manager of the dry-cleaners had amazing hair. Receding from the front it was black but there was a perfect square of grey at the back – presumably natural. There’s a yellow scooter parked outside as well.

As well as the dry-cleaning operation there was a back-door to The Bulldog and you saw employees their putting out rubbish from time to time. There was also one other door just at the end of the walkway leading to residences that overlooked Rue Rambateau. All the rubbish bins were kept down here. Like ours at home – green ones for general rubbish, yellow for recycling. There were also three cars parked there during the day. This is the view looking up.

Our door was in the back right-hand corner next to the dry cleaners. We didn’t cross paths with many people going in and out. There were two prams stored next to the lift and we occasionally heard a child crying so presumably there were families around. It’s all very private and pretty sound- proof despite the proximity.

We were on the fourth floor. There was a lift but we chose, daily, to walk up and down the eighty four wooden steps. They were highly polished and a bit lop-sided from years of use. So one walked carefully – especially coming down. Take a look back down when you get to the top.

And here’s our door. Shiny red. Check out the meters dangling down the side. At least that’s what I presume they are – located their for ease of access for the meter reader.

There’s another red door just like ours opposite as well as one immediately to the right of our door (not pictured). That apartment, right next door, was being renovated while we were here. From time to time we would hear some building work. It appeared close to completion. My impression was that it was much bigger than ours. You can just see the lift door on the left of this picture. It was small and slow and we only used it for our suitcases at the start and finish.

The window from the landing looks out onto the internal court-yard. The consistency outside may not be reflected in the interiors of the apartments. We only ever caught the tiniest of glimpses. They would have to be bigger than ours for people to live there permanently.

So, let’s go inside. There was a combined kitchen / living room. A mirror along the left hand side on entering made it seem bigger than it was. A window on the right over-looked the court-yard and made it light and airy. The whole place was clean and comfortable and everything worked – water, plumbing, heating. All the basics were covered. Also Internet access. That went off once but the owner was quickly on hand to reset it. There was also a big television on the wall which was a bit complicated to use (for us at any rate) and we finished up not bothering.


Looking from the end of the living room back to our kitchen looked like this. Pretty basic cooking equipment. Two hot plates on the side of the block nearest the sink. A microwave oven under them. It may have been a combination oven because it had a grill but we didn’t know how to work it. We had a kettle and toaster as well. The bathroom and laundry (just a washing machine) were off to the left. We ate sitting on stools at the living room side of the block. It all worked quite well.

There was a door leading off to the bedroom. Just big enough for the bed. And a stylish Ikea set of drawers (exactly like ones we have at home). But good reading lights. Also another window making it very light and airy. All the windows had thin Venetian blinds.

Here’s the view from the bedroom. We could peek out of the blinds every morning and see what sort of day lay ahead. For two and a half weeks we had lovely sunny days then some sunny but misty ones – pollution! We had about three cold and rainy days towards the end of our stay.

The views from the living room window were picture postcard Parisian rooftops. Brought to mind the chimney pot scene from Mary Poppins! Lots of chimney pots and a good view of the sky. One morning we saw a man abseiling down these roofs, bucket in hand and assorted tools attached to his belt. We thought he was a window cleaner initially but it turned out he was cleaning the gutters. A precarious job. He was doing it on one of the rare rainy days we had so it would have been slippery as well.


I bought a vase and had lovely flowers for the last couple of weeks. Bought them in a beautiful flower shop nearby. It was covered in foliage. In these tiny apartments a garden is a bit of a luxury. People but plant holders to put on their tiny balconies. We also bought rosemary and thyme to add to our cooking. So our home away from home was just that – homely. Right up until it was time to leave.