Everett Said:

I'm going to rent in the 8th district of Paris - it's a student accommodation - what's this area like?

We Answered:

Yes, David is right in what he says and he probably knows the district more than me, but he just made a little mistake: the most expensive "arrondissement" in Paris is not really the 16th but the 6th, "Saint-Germain des Prés", whic is much more central. Then, the 8th with the Champs Elysées, l'avenue Montaigne where you can find all the luxurous fashion stores, l'Elysée (where lives the President), Matignon (Prime minister), la place de la Concorde (with the "Le Crillon" palace), la place de la Madeleine (a roman style church) with luxurous groceries.

To sum up, a very luxurous area.

You can find there museums such as le musee Jaquemart André who owns a huge collection presented in a very beautiful place, Le Grand Palais (on the Champs Elysées) where you can see big big exhibitions, just next to it, Le Petit Palais (The museum of fine arts of paris). You also have theaters like Le Theatre Marigny, le théatre des Champs Elysées...
night life, I only know The Queen on the Champs Elysées.

It's not a place where I'm going very often so I won't be able to tell you so much about people and nightlife sorry, but I hope your stay will please you and that you'll also discover the other districts of Paris, nothing is very far with the metro!