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People say you can't have your cake and eat it too, but the expression doesn't apply to visitors to the Marais Apartment. As the apartment is on the fifth floor (there is a large and dependable elevator) and faces away from the street, it is as quiet as a house in the woods; but you'll find every possible urban convenience just outside the front door. There's a very convenient little supermarket right downstairs and a landmark Paris restaurant (L'Ambassade d'Auvergne) three doors away. Across the street is a pharmacist, a DVD/Video rental store and another supermarket. There's a Metro station on one corner and cafés on two others. If you do need a car, you can park relatively inexpensively in a clean, modern, protected garage across the street. There are half a dozen oriental take-out places within a block of the apartment; ditto sushi; ditto pizza, and ditto sandwiches of every imaginable kind. The cafés on the corner of Grenier St. Lazare and Beaubourg serves excellent, inexpensive lunches; coffee here is only one euro, half or one third of the price elsewhere-- and it's delicious.

The Neighborhood.

A few blocks away is the rue Montorgueil, one of Paris's liveliest and most interesting market streets. You can get terrific sausages, ham and prepared meat dishes here; the fruit and veggies are fresh from the garden; a line forms for some of the best bread and pastry in town; and the variety and excellence of the meat and poultry in the butcher shops will make your mouth water and your wallet pop open. And on your way home, you can stop for some Kosher Pizza, or some Thai take-out, or some excellent Lebanese snacks, or some . . . well, you get the idea.

On the map, we have said that it's a 12 minute walk to Notre Dame, but that's not really accurate. The real time is closer to an hour, because the walk from the apartment to the cathedral is so fascinating that you risk never arriving at all. A block from the apartment is the Pompidou Center for the Arts, in front of which you can watch an endlessly changing kaleidoscope of street theater. (The Pompidou hosts a series of important exhibitions of modern art and photography throughout the year. Plus there's quite a nice restaurant on the top floor, with sensational views over Paris.)

Just past the Pompidou, you can visit the Nicki de St. Phalle fountain, one of the world's most charming works of modern, public art. Then there is the splendid bombast of the Hotel de Ville (Paris' City Hall). Finally, you will reach the Seine itself, the joy of lovers, the inspiration for a thousand songs, paintings, novels and poems. (Perhaps, now that you're here . . . )

Oh, I forgot to mention the Palais de Justice, which is the headquarters of the cops and the courts, and the Sainte Chapelle (that's the spire on the left). You will recognize the Palais de Justice from 1000 French thrillers.

Take the subway in the opposite direction, away from the Seine, and in five minutes, you'll reach the Sacré Coeur. If you like fabrics, or silks, tassels and brocades, you'll go crazy in nearby Barbès, which is a major international destination for decorators and designers. The quality and variety of materials here are unparalleled; almost all of the vendors speak English ,and the prices are excellent.

We hope you will share our view that the Marais Apartment is perfectly located for a long or short stay in Paris. Enjoy your trip.