Have just recently returned from our third summer trip to Paris, France, our very favourite city in the world! Once again, we stayed in a charming apartment on the Ile St. Louis, smack dab in the middle of the Seine and in the middle of this beautiful city, within five minutes of Notre Dame and within incredibly scenic walking distance of the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, the Latin Quarter, St. Germain des Pres, the Marais, the Picasso Museum, the Pompidou Center, Pantheon, Hotel de Ville, the Conciergerie, St. Chapelle, and so much more. I HIGHLY recommend that, to get the most out of your time in this gorgeous city, you consider renting an apartment and checking out the charming island of St. Louis for your stay. While not "bargain basement" prices (you'll pay what you'd pay to stay in a top-notch hotel), the old adage "you get what you pay for" surely holds true here. Before I continue, a quick word: I am an infrequent poster. I guess because of this, and because my first post sung the praises of Guest Apartment Services, from whom we rented our apartment, there were questions in later postings as to whether or not I had been hired by this service to "advertise" for them. NOT TRUE. As I've said in the past, we are always quick to get the negatives out there to warn people off; shouldn't we be just as ready to let others know when service goes above and beyond — and thus give credit where credit is due? I think so, and this is why I am taking the time to let others know. Read up on the Ile St. Louis — charm, quiet, and atmosphere that truly cannot be described adequately, but must be experienced. Add to this a wonderful apartment and the time, care, and consideration given by Philippe Pee and Christophe Chastel of Guest Apartment Services when you rent one of their apartments, and your equation adds up to an unforgettable vacation. Our apartment was quiet, comfortable, elegant, and, best of all, included a small, flower-lined private terrace overlooking the Seine on Quai d'Anjou. Views of the river from every floor-to-ceiling window in this quaint apartment (in a 1640 building with private entrance through an iron gate and cobblestone courtyard) PLUS the first sight you see when you sit up in bed in the tiny but comfy loft bedroom … what more can you ask? Fully equipped kitchen, with diswasher, washer/dryer, microwave, one and one-half baths … and atmosphere at its best for late-morning-on-the-terrace coffee and croissants and for relaxed lunches and dinners of baguettes, cheese, olives, fruit, and wine. Christophe and Philiippe take care of everything — fresh flowers and Evian upon your arrival, IMMEDIATE handling of any problem that might crop up, and pleasant service for almost anything. Their driver service picks you up at the airport and delivers you and your baggage directly to your apartment and then reverses the procedure upon your return home. Philippe and Christophe take care of reservations — we used them to book the high-speed train for a day trip to the city of Dijon and for an afternoon/evening trip (via private driver) to the candlelight tour of Vaux le Vicomte with a dinner stop, for which they also made reservations, in the charming village of Barbizon. These trips were recommendations of Phillippe's and Christophe's, and were well worth our time to complete. I can even thank Philippe for his "whirlwind" wine tutorial — buy a red Burgundy wine from the year 2003! We have come to feel that these two are friends; we cannot say enough about their attentiveness to their clients. They worked hard to help us deal with British Airways, who did not send our luggage on to Paris from Heathrow until the eleventh and twelfth days of our fourteen-day stay — thank you, British Air! Without their help, getting the bags delivered correctly would have been difficult, as our French can't hold a candle to theirs! As I said, they will come to your assistance for WHATEVER is needed. With this being our third summer in the city, we spent much more time exploring, via walking, this gorgeous city and taking our time merely breathing in atmosphere — didn't feel the need to rush from one major attraction to the next. I think this is one of the advantages to revisiting a favorite destination, as we have done twice, now. Some of our favorite "new" experiences this summer were the Picasso Museum, near the Bastille, and the Salvadore Dali museum (in Montmartre). We enjoyed many lovely wine-and/or-coffee evenings at the small cafes at the end of Ile St. Louis and wonderful dinners at the tiny Le Relais de L'Isle, complete with live piano music, on the main street of Ile St. Louis. Enjoy a crepe at the "take-out" window (my favorite was fromage, jambon, et l'oignon) and the always too-good-to-be-true, world-famous Berthillon ice cream and sorbet (try the melon sorbet; it is unbelievable). Mainly, spend many hours just soaking up the charm of this petite island, where you'll feel you've stepped back into the past. If you can, rent an apartment from Philippe and Christophe that overlook the Seine; your visual memories will last you a lifetime. Once again, please don't be skeptical — I am NOT a "for-hire" poster for Guest Apartment Services — go to their website — www.guestapartment.com — and look at some of their apartments yourself. Ours was "ROSE," and I can tell you that the photos are accurate; you won't arrive and find something that doesn't resemble what you thought you were going to see! We feel very lucky that we serendipitously "found" Philippe and Christophe for our first stay; we'll never use anyone else, and we would not even consider staying anywhere else in Paris but on the Ile St. Louis. If you go, you'll understand why. Please post and let me know if you look into this and also if you give it a try. While we have plans to visit Turkey next summer, I can guarantee you that we will return to Paris and to Guest Apartment Services in the future. They have been the "gold standard" for all of our vacations thus far, and I suspect they will remain so. Happy Paris vacationing! We hope you will enjoy this lovely city as much as we have. Trip Report taken from the famous Forum website: www.tripadvisor.com