Along with two class mates, I will be traveling to Paris for June and July to conduct graduate research at University of Paris 7. We are busily trying to locate housing for this time and are having trouble. One larger question about which we need advice is the general neighborhood (arrondissement) in which to live.
Proximity to restaurants, shops, etc. would be ideal and we would like to really experience the city life (i.e. we're willing to pay more in rent to avoid living in a standard suburban apartment complex). We don't care too much about living near to University of Paris 7, but proximity to a subway station so that the commute there is reasonable is important.
Living outside of the first 7 or 8 arrondissements causes a large drop in the price, but if we're to do this we want to make sure to pick a vibrant area.
Any advice you can provide or resources for finding this type of housing would be most helpful. I should also mention that we've definitely scoured the web and found most of the obvious rental web sites. What we're asking for here is more targeted advice based on travel experience.
Thanks and best regards!