Paris AirBnB, what an experience!

Published on January 16, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

We stayed here in Paris from Jan 10-15 2018. “Chambre de charme typique à Montmartre,” what a disappointment. First they didn’t give us the correct address. Note – if that happens, consider raising the issue immediately with AirBnB and find another place to stay. The address given through AirBnB was Number 45 and the woman gave us a different address 59 after corresponding with her. At the time we didn’t think anything about it. Another thing we noticed after we left is the names of the women who live at the flat do not match the ones in the AirBnB listing. The listing is by another women – who did stay in the flat and unfortunately acted like she didn’t really want anyone staying there. Very bizarre.

The apartment was very small and the toilet and shower are very small and in separate rooms (shared). If anyone was slightly overweight they wouldn’t fit on the toilet or in the shower. The was virtually no privacy, for example, no lock on the door to the shower. The kitchen was small and we couldn’t find any dishes or utensils. The point of not staying at hotels is so we can make our own food… but this place though said the kitchen was for our use – was not usable. The bedroom was ok – but had a lot of their personal items in it. They did supply a coffee pot and a few coffee and tea bags in the room – which was good.

Midway through our stay the internet stopped working – very strange. And we also were suddenly informed that we cannot eat in the room through email. But there was no where else in the apartment to eat. We didn’t feel welcome in the living room and there was no other space… no table and the kitchen didn’t have a place to sit. At that point we knew this was a mistake.

Resolving to always use totally private accommodations in the future, we left and went to Lyon. Upon our arrival in Lyon, we received notice from the woman in Paris that she had 2 missing hangers… and we had taken them! She also said we had broken the rules by drinking wine in our room! There were no such rules listed in her ad, and certainly we didn’t take any hangers. (Update: she has changed her ad to include all the “rules” now… she I guess you could say there was a major misunderstanding because she was applying rules to us that she had not listed.) Overall – still, a place to be avoided, and a solid learning experience for us.

We did visit a lot interesting places around the area and took lots of photos! We went on to much better places!

Visiting Montmartre Cemetery on my birthday

Published on January 14, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

January 14th, 2018 I turned 54, yes I’m getting old! And I have been looking forward to visiting Montmartre Cemetery since I first saw it when exploring the sights of Paris. So, today is the day! The address is 20 Avenue Rachel, 75018 Paris, France, which is with in walking distance to our AirBnB. Most of it is situated below a bridge we cross to go to downtown Paris. So, more steps, but much less than the Bicillica! And I think it will be worth it.

So, the trip was very good, cold and lots of walking, but very interesting. There are many different graves, old and new in the same place. It would be interesting to know more about the history of the cemetery. This is all I could find when searching online:

History In the mid-18th century, overcrowding in the cemeteries of Paris had created numerous problems, from impossibly high funeral costs to unsanitary living conditions in the surrounding neighborhoods. In the 1780s, the Cimetière des Innocents was officially closed and citizens were banned from burying corpses within the city limits of Paris. During the early 19th century, new cemeteries were constructed outside the precincts of the capital: Montmartre in the north, Père Lachaise Cemetery in the east, Passy Cemetery in the west and Montparnasse Cemetery in the south.

The Montmartre Cemetery was opened on January 1, 1825. It was initially known as la Cimetière des Grandes Carrières (Cemetery of the Large Quarries).[1] The name referenced the cemetery’s unique location, in an abandoned gypsum quarry. The quarry had previously been used during the French Revolution as a mass grave. It was built below street level, in the hollow of an abandoned gypsum quarry located west of the Butte near the beginning of Rue Caulaincourt in Place de Clichy. As is still the case today, its sole entrance was constructed on Avenue Rachel under Rue Caulaincourt.[2] A popular tourist destination, Montmartre Cemetery is the final resting place of many famous artists who lived and worked in the Montmartre area.

See the full list of notable interments here.

More photos that I took are here:

Visiting the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris

Published on January 12, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

Today we visited the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. The featured image above was taken in the summer I believe – but it is quite a nice photo of the Basilica, so I prefered it for the TOP! I’ll be posting my photos later on in this blog post. First, I must say, the steps were killer… besides being on the 4th floor for our AirBnB apartment (with no elevator) I have discovered that climbing stairs is really killing my knees… very painful, and going down stairs is even worse. I’ll be planning around that in all future travel. So, the number of stairs required to visit this Basilica are quite dramatic.

The Basilica is very pretty when looking up at it from a couple blocks from where we are staying. But as you climb up to see it, it quite stunning. According to internet research it is a minor Basilica, and seeing this one before the larger ones like Notre Dame is probably best.

Quick facts about The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France.

Here are some photos of the Basilica today:

Paris is Covered in Graffiti

Published on January 12, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

Ok I’m in Paris… the first time for me. This is my first complete day and it is not as I would expect. It is covered in Graffiti and there is trash everywhere!

I did see some street cleaners attempting to clean up the mess but it appears to be in vein. From what I hear from other who traveled and lived in Pairs in the past it was not always this way. Kind of sad… and looks very bad. Not sure why it is such a mess, but they definitely need a lot more people working on cleaning the place up!

We are staying 59 Rue Damrémont, which is close to the places we toured today. We went to the Sacré-Cœur, rue du Chevalier-de-La-Barre, it was very interesting (I’ll write a separate post on that). Graffiti most of the way…. It says you cannot take photos inside of the church – but everyone was. So we took photos too! No one said stop it. Maybe that is why there is graffiti and trash all over Paris?

Some Grafete photos from our walk today….