Oui Oui Paris

So much to see and so little time and money. I spent the last five days couchsurfing in Paris soaking in all the amazing history and culture. It is awe-inspiring to be surrounded by such lavish and rich heritage.

My first night in Paris I stayed with a 37 year old Frenchman named Guillame. He works in IT, testing and developing software for companies. We enjoyed a nice dinner and some French wine from Bordeaux. Later, we had an enriching conversation about religion and spirituality and I was able to learn about some interesting new forms of sustainable development. Before retiring for the evening we held true to our shared nerdiness and exchanged pieces of binary information. I am traveling with two flash drives, one full of music, movies and pdf files and the other empty to compile random bits of digital media along my journey. We had a good time exchanging data and I was off early in the morning to do some sightseeing.

I spent several hours literally dancing around the breathtaking Louvre museum with blaring headphones and eager eyes. I especially enjoyed the ancient Egyptian relics and attempted to channel the enlightened energy of the Aliens who inspired such great works of art.


The next day I journeyed through the labyrinth of the eerie and fantastic Catacombs buried almost 100 feet beneath the streets of Paris. Filled with millions of bones and a unique energy the winding caves were incredibly enchanting.




For my remaining three nights I stayed with a wide-eyed and compassionate kid named Omar. We got along very well and exchanged music and thoughts. Couchsurfing is really an amazing way to bring people together, to share ideas and spread understanding. I arrived as two couchsurfers from Montana were leaving and the remaining two nights I shared couch space with two girls from the south of France. The girls made an authentic French meal that we devoured over laughs and champagne. We had an incredible time together and I will definitely miss Omar, his girlfriend Iman and the two French girls. We went to a house party one night on the outskirts of town where a DJ played great music until the sun came up. Everyone was eager to practice their english with me and hear about life in CO. The next day we went to the Chateau de Versaille and enjoyed a picnic of stinky cheese, baguettes and Vino.


I walked through an amazing park and stumbled across a beautiful Buddhist temple hidden in lush forest. I sat down and let the chanted mantras and luminous enlightened one infiltrate my being. It was very refreshing and engendered quite the smile from the muscles of my face.

And of course I had to go say hello to Jim...


I just inhaled the best omelette of my life at a small Jewish cafe right next to the Picasso museum. I have been pining for eggs for two weeks and struggling to find cheap and filling vegetarian meals. My belt of 8 years is on the tightest it will go...I need a queso bean burrito from the Rio really bad if anyone can matter transport one my way.

Off to Marseille and then Barcelona...

Love