Sunny apartment in the heart of Aix-en-Provence

No access on first evening as arranged by email, phone. 20:45 and night falling, no working public phones, iffy types in street and mounting horror. Rang owner outside of France from corner restau, after explaining predicament to mngr. What if not fluent?? No update; had to call owner again. Dirty dishes left in dishwasher, broken shower door and shower head came off wall. Plumbing leak onto kitchen floor; owner uncontactable. Rang a plumber in Marseilles. What if not fluent?? Summary: repeated problems. Reply from host: When Mr. N. rang me to let me know that my friend hadn't showed up to give him the key, I immediately offered to pay for him to stay in a hotel that night. However, he was understandably keen to move into the apartment, and chose to wait for my friend. The street on which my apartment is situated is a major artery with shops and restaurants. Many of my neighbors are senior citizens and there is no safety issue in the area. A leak occurred in the kitchen during Mr. N's visit. I'm grateful to him for calling a plumber. No amount of maintenance will prevent things from breaking down from time to time, and since mine isn't a service apartment, the cooperation of the tenant is necessary. I changed the broken shower door (to a curtain) and the shower head at the earliest opportunity.

My husband and I stayed in this apartment for two weeks in Feb. 2015. It is situated very close to the bus and train stations which we used extensively for travel to TGV station, Marseille airport, and hiking around Montagne St. Victoire. It is also on the edge of the beautiful old town of Aix. It is exactly as pictured and is excellent value, spacious and well equipped, and conveniently located just off Place de la Rotonde and Cours Mirabeau.