Paris! The City of Love and Romance... sorta

If you know me at all you know I am not the romantic type. So, Paris was a bit foreign for me. The beauty of the city, couples making out on every corner, the beautiful pastries and just how the city stands in grace. BUT everyone has to go to Paris, right? We saw the sights....and there were hoards of tourists because it's technically still summer break for most of Europe. BUT some of the things the surprised me. It's actually really dirty as well. I haven't been to New York City but that would be the closest comparison that I can think of. There is a certain sense of grit and dingy that goes with a big city. I guess I just had this ideal picture in my head of what Paris looks like. There is also a huge Muslim, Middle Eastern and African populations which is surprising for some reason. I guess France has granted citizenship for refugees of war thus the melting pot. Anyway we didn't want to hassle with Couchsurfing in Paris. It's kinda a mess. There are too many people requesting for hosting and not enough hosts. AND with Air BnB getting so popular most people rent out their spare room which leaves all the crummy floors and couches to Couchsurfing. No thanks. Getting too old to sleep on dirty floors. I'm on vacation Goddammit! So, we shelled out some skrill to rent out a room in a flat in the Bastille (like the Greenwitch Village of Paris). The women we rented from was so interesting. From Isreal and had lived in Paris and I think she was a Lesiban Muslim? Not sure how that works but there were female nude painting, sculputures and art all over her flat, no husband, no kids. I'm just assuming? Well whatever she was cool. What was also interesting is there is a picture of her kitchen below with a tiny washer. AND only 1 hot plate to cook food. It's amazing to see the simplicity of her home. It was very appealing. EVERYTHING was small! Bed, shower, sink, kitchen, tv... but the best thing was BIG this Windows! Aw the windows so beautiful The sterotype that the French refuse to speak English are true. They continue to speak to you in French... thank God Geoff speaks a bit of French. He tried to force me to order my meals in French for myself, I was like "NO!" I don't know anything and look like an idiot so that didn't last long. He ordered for me after the second meal. In the pictures below you will see a vending machine, they put the bottles in upside down that facinited me. They are in all the train stations. They are extremely expensive like 2 Euro (almost $3) and like 1/3 of the size. We decided to go to the Eiffle Tower on a rainy day so the lines were non-existent. Otherwise, they are about 2+ hours. We finally got to the top and it's beautiful view. The tower is not so pretty when your on it. Just metal and dirty. BUT beautiful lit up and from the ground. It lights up to a hue of gold... looks amazing. Most people are going to think I am crazy but I didn't care for the French food. It's patae this, duck that, weird meat eggs. I didn't enjoy the pastries. They just melt in your mouth and awwww so good! After all of this, I was happy to start our Germnay...