.4th Pompidou Centre/Le Marais holiday apartment: Paris IV - Ile Saint-Louis

What an amazing place to stay. There are so many positives it is impossible to list them all but we'll try. We stayed for 9 nights in this apartment and found the following things quite wonderful. It is in THE CENTRE OF PARIS. We could walk to all of the sites - and we did which meant we were very glad of the extraordinarily comfortable bed and the fluffy towels when we got home to shower and crash. There is a travel library (although a few of the books are older - so is Paris). The kitchen is well equipped and allowed us to make the meals we needed to make and make our own coffee each day. The washing machine meant that we had to pack less and worked perfectly - although we never did figure out the dryer. The free phone and internet meant that we could contact our family in North America and pick up our messages. Finally, Maria was amazing about answering the plethora of questions before, during and after our stay which put our minds at ease and made for a spectacular vacation. Also, the information that she sent ahead of time about Museum Passes, the Batobus and ShuttlesofParis made it much cheaper and easier to get around.
The grocery store downstairs is expensive but convenient and they are lovely people. There is a cremerie for cheese and meat across the street as well as a bakery which makes the best croissants we have ever had. There is also a Nicolas down the street to purchase wine. We spent many nights sitting on the banks of the Siene (less than two minutes from the front door) with a picnic dinner.
There is absolutely no street noise although you are dependent on the neighbours being quiet because of the courtyard set up. This was not a problem most of the time.
We would not hesitate to recommend this location and hope to return soon. Thank you Patrick and Maria - you have made these two travellers very happy and we hope many more will benefit from your hospitality!