Day 3/Day 4 (Dec. 30-Dec. 31)

Location: Paris, France

Mission: Meet up with our couch surfer, explore the city, enjoy New Years in Paris.

Transportation: Metro and our feet.

We got into Paris quite late, had no idea where to meet our couch surfer. Earlier in our trip, Chris locked himself out of the phone. We had no means of communication. We decided to walk across the street towards a mall area, that moment, we ran into Sylvain.

We took the metro back to Sylvain's place. The place was a two room flat (just one bedroom with a living room). The atmosphere was very comfortable and Sylvain made us a Brazilian drink and we munched on cheese. We chatted for a while, but were exhausted. The sofa bed was pulled out and it was time to sleep.

Day 4:
The next morning, after a long sleep, Sylvain offered to show us around. We walked along the river, saw things we probably would not have seen had we not been with Sylvain. We ate crepes at a restaurant and made our way to the Louvre area. Here, we walked around the mall area and chatted a bit more. Sylvain left us, he had a New Year's party to attend.

Chris and I went back to the apartment, napped and it was time to catch the New Year's festivities.

New Year's in Paris, who would ever think it would actually happen. The streets were filled with crazy Parisians, booze had started to run through everyone's veins, but ours. After a quick purchase (6 Euros for 2 Heinikens), we walked towards the Eiffel Tower. Imagine being next to the tower at midnight, fireworks and lights! Well, that's at least what I envisioned.

The Eiffel Tower was lit up, alternating colors flashed down the sides. When midnight came, one could hardly tell. The lights counted down from the top of the tower to the bottom, but there were no fireworks. No grand display, just store bought fireworks and people screaming. The experience was great, just not what I hoped for.