so, paris, here i come.
i still have about 10 vacation days left and not really a clue what to do. luckily katherina (my co-worker) has plans to go to paris over the weekend to visit friends. i find a reasonable flight ticket (250) online and a bed (not a room!) in katharina’s hostel called „young and happy“ in the quartier latin.
the flight is more or less ok. kathi and her friend astrid from stuttgart are already in the city. our plan is to meet later in the evening after my young and happy check-in. the way from the airport to the centre should be easy (says lonely planet), but it’s not because nobody speaks english 😉 and i have not clue which ticket to buy. the french guy next to the vending machine is giving me wrong instructions and so i buy (and pay) a wrong one. now the japanese tourists is trying to help and luckily he knows better 😉 i get my ticket.
i am sitting in a dirty train heading to the city. listening u2 on my ipod and watching a guy rolling a joint and writing down the lyrics of a rap song (which i can still hear from his headphones to my u2-headphones!). i get off the subway train at place monge. the hostel is around the corner and the first impression is not too bad. my bed is in a five-bed-girls-room with private shower. what a surprise 😉 although it’s 9 pm i am the first and choose the best bed. but the planket (which i can cover with sheets) and the restroom make me think „i am too old for this youth hostel shi*…“
10 SMS later i find myself in a bar close to notre-dame with kathi, astrid and thibault (a fellow student of them from montpellier). it’s still warm and we are sitting outside enjoying cocktails. the conversation is in french and i am having a hard time to understand but it’s fun.
to be continued…