This classic apartment benefits from the talents of a gifted interior decorator who has skillfully furnished the L-shaped space to showcase its inherent features: polished herringbone wood floors, numerous tall windows, three-meter (10') ceilings and a separate dining room. The apartment is crisp and bright with an ambiance that is at once buoyant and cheerful. In contrast to its traditional but youthful atmosphere, the building is several hundred years old and the interior courtyard is a registered national landmark. One of the apartment's loveliest features is its exposure to the landscaped courtyard and the mature plantings of flowers, which provide a verdant and peaceful backdrop for the warm pastels of the interior décor.
The apartment, up one wide flight of stairs from the courtyard, opens into a large living room. At one end is a small (non-working) fireplace and, beside it, a large armoire with shelves. At the other end is a white table with a cordless telephone and color television with cable reception (including CNN). Two white overstuffed sofas of brocaded fabric (both convert into double beds if needed) are grouped around a white wooden coffee table. Two sets of floor-to-ceiling windows are framed by breezy olive-colored drapes, and the whole room has a relaxed yet sophisticated feel.
The dining room, which separates the living room from the two bedrooms, is the hub of the apartment and has a solid wooden table for four to six people. An attractive antique buffet lies along one wall, and a mirror reflecting yet another tall window makes the dining room seem even more spacious.
The good-sized kitchen adjoins the dining room. A backsplash of bright blue-and-white tile accents the white kitchen appliances and the warm terra cotta tile floors. The kitchen is fully equipped, and has a large refrigerator, conventional and microwave ovens, dishwasher, combination washer-dryer and a host of smaller appliances.
Two bedrooms are located on either side of the dining room; in both the beds can be made up as one king-sized or two twin beds. The larger bedroom has a colorful bedspread, generous closet space and good illumination for reading. The bedroom is particularly luminous on sunny days as light streams into the room from two large windows overlooking the courtyard. The full ensuite bath with has a tub with shower attachment and WC.
The second bedroom, somewhat smaller, is nicely appointed and has a white coverlet and matching bedside tables with lamps. This bedroom uses a small bathroom with stall shower that opens off the dining room. There is a separate WC.
The Saint-Germain-des-Prés area is not only one of the most beautiful and lively quartiers in all of Paris, but it is also ideally situated for exploring the city's great museums and many historic sites. And no arrondissement of Paris is better known for its many sidewalk cafés and cozy bistros, or for its windy little streets and alleys that offer seemingly endless discoveries of galleries and bookstores, and of boutiques with cleverly displayed windows featuring everything from superb antiques to art déco jewelry and - after all, this is Paris - every conceivable aspect of the culinary arts and the products necessary for their expression.
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