In Paris, Nikki and I decided to try a different flavour of accommodation, Couch Surfing. We stayed with a guy named Sylvain who lived in Montreuil. It was an excellent experience. Sylvain took us on a tour near his home, visiting the one medieval castle in and around Paris. He also took us through a walk in a park complete with man-made lake and Greek temple. We lol'd! Sylvain also took us through a really interesting garden: the coulée verte. It was built from the old inner-city train rails converted to trails of gardens. It was a really lovely escape from the hustle and bustle of touristic Paris. And we thought the name was absolutely lovely. However, not to the French. The word "coulée" means "flow". But as Sylvain put it, it refers to more of something like the flow of sewage... But for us English speakers, being beckoned for a stroll along the Coulée Verte (swoon) sounds much more appealing than along the Green Sludge-Flow.
After our garden adventures, we went back to Sylvain's house where he made us a delicious quiche-like egg pie (it didn't have some kind of ham in it so apparently it wasn't true quiche...). It was purely yummo!
The following day, Sylvain took us on a walking tour of Paris. We went to another park complete with its very own faux Greek temple. Which had an amazing view of the city.
We then went to the Sacré Coeur, which was lovely and crowded. Then we continued our walk to the Louvre and through another park to the canals. The canal along the Seine has just been converted from a motorway to a pedestrian lane. It was a great change as there were tonnes of artists and locals and tourists just their enjoying Paris and the lovely weather. Then onto the Eiffel Tower, no trip to Paris is complete without it.
Afterward, we went back to Sylvain's and played Catan! Huzzah! It was great and also the first time I have ever won!
Our trip to Paris was absolutely lovely, and it wouldn't have been half as good without the wonderful and accommodating Sylvain. He was such a gracious host and I can't thank him enough!
And then we were off over the Atlantic to the mysterious Iceland!



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