Voted city most likely to surprise you: Paris, part I

Even with a slight housing disaster and expired phone credit, my trip to Paris is one that I will remember for a long time to come.

The first day was a whirlwind of traveling and trying to find my way around in this beautiful new city. I came across some beautiful sights and managed to meet up with friends before meeting up with my Couchsurfing host.

Louis XIV square

Jim Morrison's grave!

Yes, I did Couchsurfing. If you don't know what that is, it's a system of hosts all around the world who offer a space in their home for people traveling through to stay relatively free of charge. In an expensive city like Paris, Couchsurfing was ideal. I thought I had covered all my bases before going through with the experience, unfortunately a misunderstanding with my host about what the word "compromise" means eventually led to a state of temporary homelessness in Paris. One minute I'm sitting out by the Eiffel tower admiring the twinkling lights, and the next I am frantically searching hostel sights for any available space. Cue mini crisis.

But, as always, the gods looked favorably on me and found me a solution before my anxiety could evolve into a full-scale panic attack (holla Dan & Randy!). I somehow managed to keep a bright outlook and visit some of the monuments that have lived only in my dreams.

Notre Dame cathedral

I was continually delighted by the beautiful nooks that I stumbled across in my wanderings around the city. I already expected to see the beautiful iconic landmarks that characterize Paris, but there is so much more to discover.

Sainte-Chapelle

The next night was then spent celebrating a friend's birthday and spending time with other friends studying in Paris. It was a great way to relax after 2 long days of traveling and living like a nomad. I had the intention of seeing as much as possible during my time there despite the various challenges that crossed my path, even though I knew I could not see and appreciate everything in such a short visit.  

Versailles

I was excited and deeply grateful to be in this great city, and more than anything I was glad to see that  my perception of the city thus far had (more or less) not been as awful as some of the descriptions others had shared.