Following up on my post below and some excellent responses, my wife and I have decided to spend 4 days in Paris and 4 days in Caen in June, 2013. I'm looking for recommendations of small hotels in Paris - no chains, nothing fancy, but typically French. As long as it is within a couple of blocks of the Metro, we don't really care which Arrondissment - as long as it is relatively safe.

We will be staying at the Hotel du Havre in Caen, where I stayed 40 years ago as a student.

Thanks in advance.