The Eiffel Tower, France
Ahh Pareee! To save a little bit of money, Megan and I decided to try out “Couch Surfing,” which is an online community of travelers that allow for other travelers to sleep on their couches around the world. I know it sounds pretty strange, but I was recommended to the site about six months ago by another traveller friend and so far have had great success! Each host has a profile on the site with reviews from all their past guests, and pictures of the area they live and their spare bedroom or couch. We stayed with a wonderful man, named Clement, who lived about fifteen minutes walking distance from the Eiffel Tower. He is a frequent host, and we met two other surfers as we were leaving. We arrived in the late afternoon and spent the remainder of the day adjusting, resting, and walking through town. The next day we woke up bright and early and relaxed; all ready to go! We hopped on a metro and went to the Eiffel Tower and an exhibit about the Beatles at the Four Seasons, where they stayed in the seventies, and where Clement currently works. Then we wandered around for hours seeing the Notre Dame, the Arch de Triumph, the Pont d’arts (also called the Lover’s Bridge), and Victor Hugo’s house. Then we attempted to find the Bastille…I say attempted because after walking past it at least a dozen times we finally asked someone where it was, only to realize that the Bastille is not a building, but rather and entire area with a monument in the middle. (How did they storm that!?) We continued on and saw street performers, ate more ice cream and crepes, rode in a “cycle-politian,” which is a little cart attached to a bike that pulls you around the city. We ate in a tiny café by Victor Hugo’s house and then headed back to Clement’s to get ready to go out. He had other couch surfers staying our second night, so we switched to a different apartment with a guy named Jeremy, who lived about ten minutes away and works in Versailles for the company that produces World of Warcraft and other games. The group of us, hosts and guests alike, piled in a cab and headed to the Eiffel Tower where we sat on the grass and drank wine and enjoyed the gorgeous lights at night. We then attempted to go to some bars that were once Speakeasys, but they were all closed and so we headed home to fall asleep.
